HOUSTON -- The parents of an orthodontist whose wife stands accused of fatally running him down with her Mercedes-Benz have appeared in court to support their daughter-in-law, whose murder trial is under way.

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Legal Experts Weigh In On Harris Trial Jury Selection Gets Off To Rocky Start Defense Attorney Hopes Jury Keeps 'Open Mind' SURVEY What Do You Think About The Incident?

Clara Harris, 44, is charged with murdering her orthodontist husband, David Harris, 44, on the night of July 24 after a confrontation with him and his alleged mistress in the lobby of the Hilton Nasa Clear Lake, Nasa Road 1, in Nassau Bay.

More than 70 potential jurors were set to undergo further questioning Wednesday after a panel of 120 was trimmed down by 48 Tuesday.

Gerald and Mildred Harris, parents of David Harris, arrived at the Harris County Courthouse on Tuesday with their daughter-in-law. After more than 10 hours of potential jurors' initial questioning, Clara Harris stood between the victim's parents.

"This family is remarkable and I have said that since the very day I met them," defense attorney George Parnham said. "They are father and mother. And father-in-law and mother-in-law. They are one in the same. They are here. They support her. They love her."

Defense attorneys contend she did not mean to run over her husband. Prosecutors say she intentionally hit and killed him.

Jury selection is expected to conclude by late Wednesday after attorneys question the remaining 72 and narrow the field to 12 jurors and two alternates.

State District Judge Carol Davies said she would give both prosecutors and defense attorneys an hour each to discuss the case with the prospective jurors.

On Tuesday, some potential jurors said they were sympathetic to Clara Harris, while others said they thought she was guilty.

The defendant's eyes moistened with tears at one point when a potential juror said the most prominent news coverage she had seen of the case was that Clara Harris thought her husband was going to break up with his alleged mistress that night "and then he sides with the mistress."

Others said what they remembered most was the silver Mercedes-Benz Clara Harris drove or that her stepdaughter was in the car with her when David Harris was hit.

One female juror, who was excused from the panel, told the judge she could relate to Harris, because "it was like the exact same thing that happened in my life," when she caught her husband cheating.

"I can't judge nobody because I could not think straight," she said.

Meanwhile, a woman who remains on the panel of potential jurors told Davies: "It's just a sad situation all around."

If convicted, Clara Harris faces up to life in prison.

Davies, however, told potential jurors on Tuesday that they could consider a sentence of two to 20 years in prison if they determine Clara Harris acted under sudden passion.

Sudden passion is legally defined as the following:

• Accused was provoked by the victim
• Crime happened at the time of the offense
• Provocation made an ordinary person so enraged that he or she was incapable of cool reflection

"A jury can take into account what ... the circumstances are," Davies said. "The intent to kill can be formed very quickly."

Parnham says Clara Harris didn't set out to kill the night she struck her husband, but instead wanted to "bring David home." Parnham said Clara Harris wanted to save her marriage and family.

Lindsey Harris could be the most pivotal witness for jurors who will have to determine her stepmother's intent as she drove toward the Lincoln Navigator her husband and Gail Bridges, a divorced mother of three, were entering. Bridges once worked in Harris' orthodontics office.

Prosecutors said last week that Lindsey Harris is prepared to testify that an hour before her father was struck, Clara Harris told her: "I could kill him and get away with it for all he's put me through."

Clara Harris remains free on a $30,000 bond.