Photos:

Photo by Felix Adamo

Vincent Brothers, center, and his lawyers, Michael Gardina, left, and Anthony Bryan, stand as the jury enters for the the start of his trial for the murder of Joanie Harper, Earnestine Harper, and Brothers' three children, Marshall, Lyndsey and Marques.

Photo by Felix Adamo

Vincent Brothers watches as the daughter of Earnestine Harper is escorted from the courtroom after breaking down during the reading of the charges. Brothers is accused of the murder of his wife, Joanie Harper, his mother-in-law, Earnestine Harper, and his three children, Marshall, Lyndsey and Marques on July 16, 2003.

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This was played during opening statements, during which Deputy District Attorney Lisa Green laid out her case for the jury.

"My sister, my best friend, she's dead," family friend Kelsey Spann told a 911 dispatcher. "Please help me."

Green believes Brothers flew to Ohio to establish an alibi, then drove back to Bakersfield to kill his wife, Joanie Harper; their three children, Marques, Lyndsey and Marshall; and Joanie Harper's mother, Earnestine. Brothers has pleaded not guilty.

Green believes the former vice principal killed his family in 2003 because he wanted to escape the emotional and financial strain of three children.

Much of the prosecution's case has already been aired.

But defense attorney Michael Gardina offered never-before-heard details. He said Brothers was spending time with a variety of relatives in Ohio at the same time the prosecution believes he was driving back to Bakersfield to kill his family. Gardina said Brothers stayed with his brother and his brother's family, went on a short road trip with another brother and made calls to his mother from the Ohio area.

The defense attorney promised all these people would testify on Brothers' behalf at trial. But the defense has much more to present, and will continue opening statements today.

Three of Earnestine Harper's children came to Bakersfield to watch those opening statements.

Earnestine Harper's daughter Linda Piggee started to cry when her mother's name was read to the jury in connection with the murder charges. And when her sister Joanie Harper's name was read, she started crying heavily and started walking out the door, appearing to faint into her brother's arms.

Earnestine Harper's son, Eddie Harper, and her daughter Elain Byrd remained to listen to opening statements. Little came as a surprise to the Harper family. Eddie Harper said Green helped put the pieces of the case together in his mind.

He and his two sisters said they are going to leave judgment to the jurors and to God.

But they all heard stories about Brothers from Joanie and Earnestine Harper that he was a distant father with little interest in his wife, children or their family.

"Meeting him, eye contact, shaking hands was difficult," said Joanie Harper's sister, Elain Byrd. "I told him I wanted to see his eyes ... you can tell a lot about a person by looking them in the eyes."

Joanie Harper's sisters said they gave Vincent Brothers credit for supporting her and the children financially.

But Eddie Harper said Brothers usually came up with money for Joanie Harper when she suggested establishing regular child support.

Despite these difficulties, they said Brothers would also be surprisingly helpful at times.

The Harper family peppered their language outside of court with praises of and devotion to God, and took advice from Scripture. They said God helps them through the loss of their family.

Before Wednesday afternoon's opening statements, the judge and attorneys wrapped up jury selection, which took several weeks.

Gardina accused Green of picking off all the black women from the jury and from the panel of six alternate jurors. A black man was sworn in as a juror in the case.

In turn, Green accused the defense of excusing mainly white women. Gardina excused 11 white women and one white man before he was satisfied with the composition of the jury pool, Green said.

Kern County Superior Court Judge Michael Bush asked Green to explain why she picked off the women.

The prosecutor said one of the women knew Brothers as a student when Brothers was a teacher; a second was removed because the juror didn't say she was for the death penalty; and the third because she only had an eighth-grade education.

Bush agreed these were good reasons to excuse these jurors.

The judge said he did not want to pursue Green's objection because the only possible remedy would be to empanel a new jury.

Before jury selection began Wednesday, Bush told Green she would not be allowed to present evidence during trial that Brothers was an unloving father, a crucial element of the prosecution's case.

But Green was able to present this during opening statements.

Green believes Brothers killed his family because he did not want to have to care for them or pay child support. Brothers has an older daughter and Green wanted to show that Brothers was an unloving father to all four of his children.

"I don't see the connection between being a distant father and being a murderer," Bush told Green. But the judge will still allow her to argue that Brothers may have killed his family to get out from under hefty child support payments he would have faced if he divorced his wife.

Green objected to how late the motion was filed. The defense filed the motion to have this evidence excluded Tuesday and Bush heard the motion Wednesday.

"It's taking the guts out of my argument," Green said.

Bush said he would allow Green to argue later that she should be allowed to introduce evidence that Brothers was an unloving father.