Cliff Harris: Arson, Fast Cars and Texas Law

Cliff Harris was, for one season, the most electric player in college football. In 2010 he was a consensus All-American, the nation’s leading punt returner, and a key piece of the Oregon team that reached the national title game. What came next is harder to watch: a run of arrests, a felony arson conviction, and, by his family’s account, a struggle with his mental health. None of the conduct below happened in Texas. But every piece of it maps cleanly onto Texas statutes, which is the point of this file.

What Happened

Harris’s troubles surfaced at Oregon. In 2011 he was stopped for driving 118 miles per hour on a suspended license, and when the officer noted the smell of marijuana, Harris reportedly said the group had smoked it all. Oregon dismissed him from the team later that year for violating team rules involving drugs. He signed briefly with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2012 and the New York Jets in 2013, but a marijuana arrest ended the Jets stint.

In May 2013 he was arrested in Oregon after an argument with his girlfriend. She declined to pursue charges and he was released. The most serious case came in California. In 2015 Harris pleaded no contest to felony arson for setting fire to a grassy median in Fresno, and in December 2015 he was sentenced to one year in jail and three years of probation. In November 2016, an arrest in Clovis for theft and drug possession put him back in custody on a felony probation violation. A court-appointed evaluator reportedly raised concern that Harris might be suffering the effects of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a degenerative brain condition that cannot be confirmed in a living person. Harris has largely stayed out of public view since, and there is no reliable public record of his life in the years after 2016.

How Texas Would See It

Arson: A Second-Degree Felony

Setting fire to a grassy median is arson in Texas. Under Texas Penal Code Section 28.02, a person commits arson by starting a fire with intent to destroy or damage any vegetation, fence, or structure on open-space land. The offense is a second-degree felony, punishable by two to twenty years in prison and a fine of up to 10,000 dollars. It rises to a first-degree felony only if a person suffers bodily injury or death, or if the target was a habitation or a place of worship or assembly. A median fire with no injuries sits at the second-degree level, which lines up closely with the felony arson Harris actually pleaded to in California. The State would have to prove intent to damage. If the fire were merely reckless, the case could drop to reckless damage or destruction or criminal mischief, both far less serious.

The 118 mph Stop

The traffic stop would generate its own charges here. Driving 118 miles per hour can support reckless driving, a misdemeanor defined as operating a vehicle in willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property. Driving on a suspended license is driving while license invalid. Neither is dramatic on its own, but stacked on top of a pending felony they matter, because a new offense on probation is exactly what triggers a motion to revoke.

Marijuana, Then and Now

Harris’s marijuana cases predate Texas’s 2019 hemp law, so the era matters. At the time, possession of two ounces or less was a Class B misdemeanor under Health and Safety Code Section 481.121. Today the same case is harder for the State to prove, because Texas legalized hemp and a lab now has to show the substance exceeds the legal THC threshold. For a case from 2011, though, the old rules applied and the proof problem did not yet exist.

The Charge a Complainant Cannot Drop

The 2013 domestic incident is a useful teaching point. Harris was released after his girlfriend declined to pursue charges. In Texas, that decision does not belong to the complainant. Assault involving a family or household member is charged under Penal Code Section 22.01, and it is the State, not the alleged victim, that decides whether to prosecute. An affidavit of non-prosecution is something a prosecutor will weigh, but it does not end the case by itself. A first family-violence offense is a Class A misdemeanor and can carry consequences well beyond the courtroom.

Probation, and the Full Range

The 2016 arrest is the kind of event that unravels a probated sentence. On community supervision for a felony, a new arrest lets the State file a motion to revoke or, on deferred adjudication, a motion to adjudicate. On deferred adjudication in Texas, a defendant who violates faces the full punishment range of the original offense, which on a second-degree arson means up to twenty years, not a capped violation penalty. That exposure is why the terms of a plea can matter as much as the plea itself.

When Brain Injury Is Part of the Story

The CTE question raises an issue Texas courts see often: what to do when mental health sits underneath the conduct. CTE cannot be diagnosed in a living person, so no court would treat it as established. But a documented brain injury or mental illness can matter in three ways. It can support a competency inquiry under Chapter 46B of the Code of Criminal Procedure if a defendant cannot assist in his own defense. It can, in narrow cases, support the insanity defense, though Texas uses a strict test that asks only whether the defendant knew his conduct was wrong. And most often it comes in as mitigation, the human context a judge or jury weighs at sentencing. A defense team that ignores that layer is not doing the work.

How the Defense Plays It

• Attack intent on the arson. A second-degree charge requires intent to damage. If the fire was reckless or the origin is disputed, the case may belong at reckless damage or criminal mischief instead.
• Get the mental-health evaluation on the record early. Competency and mitigation both depend on documentation that starts before a plea, not after.
• Treat every new offense on probation as a revocation risk. The exposure on a violation is the original range, so the fight often moves to the motion to revoke.
• Do not assume a reluctant complainant ends a family-violence case. Build the defense as if the State will proceed without her.

What This Case Illustrates

Cliff Harris’s file is not really about football. It is about how quickly a probated felony, an untreated health problem, and a few new arrests can compound. In Texas the individual charges are ordinary. What is not ordinary is how they interact, and that interaction is where a defense either holds the line or loses it.

Related Reading

• Drug crimes in Texas
• Probation violation
• Assault and domestic violence

Sources

• Cliff Harris (cornerback), Wikipedia.
• Bleacher Report, Cliff Harris arrested, sentenced to a year and three years’ probation for 2015 arson.
• ABC30 Fresno, Former Edison High star back in jail for theft and drug possession (2016).
• Texas Penal Code Section 28.02 (Arson).

Talk to Deandra Grant Law. Deandra Grant Law defends DWI and criminal cases across North and Central Texas from offices in Dallas, Fort Worth, Allen, Denton, Rockwall, and Waco. If you or someone you know is facing a criminal charge, call (214) 225-7117 for a free, confidential consultation.

The Defense File is an educational series. It is not legal advice, and it is not a comment on the guilt or innocence of any person. Charges described here are allegations unless a conviction is noted.