Mallard pleads not guilty to murder - smoked pot, took ecstasy and drank heavily before hit and run

The Dallas Morning News ^ | June 23, 2003 | From Staff and Wire Reports

[MeekOneGOP]

Mallard pleads not guilty to murder

06/23/2003

From Staff and Wire Reports

FORT WORTH, Texas - A former nurse's aide smoked pot, took ecstasy and drank heavily in the hours before she hit a homeless man and drove home while he was lodged in her windshield, prosecutors and defense attorneys told jurors as her murder trial began Monday.

Chante Jawan Mallard, 27, faces life in prison if convicted. She pleaded guilty to a lesser charge, tampering with evidence, before attorneys began their opening statements on the murder charge.

Although she had taken drugs, Mallard could have stopped at a nearby fire or police station or called an ambulance after she hit Gregory Biggs on a highway in the early hours of Oct. 26, 2001, prosecutor Christy Jack said.

Michael Ainsworth / DMN

A sheriff's deputy escorts Chante Mallard into the courtroom on the first day of her murder trial at the 371st District Court at the Tarrant County Justice Center.

"All of a sudden -- bam -- he was just there," Mallard said in a statement to police, which Jack read to jurors.

Mallard did stop briefly to try and get Biggs off her car, but when she couldn't, she drove about a mile to her home, Jack said. Mallard then called one of her friends to pick her up, Jack said.

She and her friend then went to find Mallard's ex-boyfriend to figure out what to do next. When they couldn't find him, they went back to the house, where Mallard took the friend into the garage, Jack said. By that time, Biggs was dead, still lodged and bleeding in the jagged windshield.

The friend told Mallard to call 911, Jack said.

"Chante refused because she didn't want her parents to know what she'd done and didn't want to go to jail," Jack said.

Defense attorney Jeff Kearney said Mallard was in a drug-induced haze and had been hit in the face with flying glass when the car hit Biggs. He said she doesn't dispute what happened, but it was an accident, not murder.

She was just one exit from her home, so she kept driving with "a body entirely in her car, the head in the floorboard, legs going in directions that no one thought humanely possible. You can't imagine," Kearney said.

He said after Mallard pulled into her garage and lowered the door, she sat in the car and cried, repeatedly apologizing to Biggs, who was moaning.

When the friend arrived at the house, Mallard was hysterical and "was blabbing, 'Lord, I'm sorry. What do I do? Lord, I'm sorry. It was an accident. What do it do?"' Kearney said.

Biggs, 37, a former bricklayer who had been living in a homeless shelter, was found dead the next day, his body dumped in a park.

When pictures of Biggs' twisted, bruised and bloody body were shown Monday on a large screen in the courtroom, Mallard looked down, and some jurors grimaced or looked away. Biggs' relatives were not in the room when the photos were displayed.

Mallard's attorney said Clete Jackson, one of two men who pleaded guilty to helping dump Biggs' body, orchestrated moving Biggs to Cobb Park.

Jackson received a 10-year sentence for tampering with evidence. His cousin, Herbert Tyrone Cleveland, received nine years. As part of plea agreements, they were to testify at Mallard's trial.

Police initially said Biggs lived for several days in Mallard's garage, slowly bleeding to death from his multiple fractures and cuts.

But Tarrant County Medical Examiner Nizam Peerwani later said Biggs, whose left leg was nearly amputated, probably lived only a few hours after he was hit. He could have survived if he had received medical attention, Peerwani said.

When Biggs' body was found in the park, authorities had no leads until four months later, when a tipster said Mallard talked about the incident at a party.

The day after interviewing the tipster in February 2002, police went to Mallard's house with a search warrant.

Detective Don Owings told jurors Monday that after serving the search warrant, he saw the car in the garage with the seats missing and the windshield and rear glass broken. Officers have said they found dark stains on the passenger-side floorboard and burned car seats in her back yard.

Owings testified that 14 officers accompanied him to Mallard’s home. She was not ill-treated, he said, and she understood her rights as she was interrogated.

“She was upset. She had cried some,” he said. “But she allowed me to take the statement.”

---

Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews/stories/062303dnmettrial.1fa12.html

[MeekOneGOP]

Gregory Biggs

Chante Mallard

Chante Mallard (left) is accused of striking
Gregory Biggs with her car and leaving him
to die in the windshield.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Sometimes the messes that we get ourselves into are so large, that there is no escaping the consequences. I wonder how she could have thought hiding this from her family and the police was possible... she had told her friend about it, after all. Unbelieveable. Where is reality, for some people?

[MeekOneGOP]

Mallard pleads not guilty to murder - smoked pot,
took ecstasy and drank heavily before hit and run

Excerpt:

FORT WORTH, Texas - A former nurse's aide smoked pot, took ecstasy and drank heavily in the hours before she hit a homeless man and drove home while he was lodged in her windshield, prosecutors and defense attorneys told jurors as her murder trial began Monday.

Chante Jawan Mallard, 27, faces life in prison if convicted. She pleaded guilty to a lesser charge, tampering with evidence, before attorneys began their opening statements on the murder charge.

Although she had taken drugs, Mallard could have stopped at a nearby fire or police station or called an ambulance after she hit Gregory Biggs on a highway in the early hours of Oct. 26, 2001, prosecutor Christy Jack said.

Michael Ainsworth / DMN

A sheriff's deputy escorts Chante Mallard into the courtroom on the first day of her murder trial at the 371st District Court at the Tarrant County Justice Center.

"All of a sudden -- bam -- he was just there," Mallard said in a statement to police, which Jack read to jurors.

Mallard did stop briefly to try and get Biggs off her car, but when she couldn't, she drove about a mile to her home, Jack said. Mallard then called one of her friends to pick her up, Jack said.

She and her friend then went to find Mallard's ex-boyfriend to figure out what to do next. When they couldn't find him, they went back to the house, where Mallard took the friend into the garage, Jack said. By that time, Biggs was dead, still lodged and bleeding in the jagged windshield.

The friend told Mallard to call 911, Jack said.

"Chante refused because she didn't want her parents to know what she'd done and didn't want to go to jail," Jack said.

Defense attorney Jeff Kearney said Mallard was in a drug-induced haze and had been hit in the face with flying glass when the car hit Biggs. He said she doesn't dispute what happened, but it was an accident, not murder.

She was just one exit from her home, so she kept driving with "a body entirely in her car, the head in the floorboard, legs going in directions that no one thought humanely possible. You can't imagine," Kearney said.

Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my Chante Mallard Murder Trial ping list!. . .don't be shy.

[harpseal]

As soon as she hit him she had a duty to stop. Being intoxicated while committing a crime should be an aggravating circumstance not any kind of excuse the sole exception to that rule is when someone is forcibly goven intoxixcants or given them without their knowledge.

[MeekOneGOP]

Totally crazy, isn't it ??

[newgeezer]

The War On Drugs killed Mr. Biggs. After all, if Mallard's drugs weren't illegal, she would've driven straight to the police station to help the victim get the care he needed to save his life. Instead, she was justifiably scared of being slapped with a bunch of drug charges.</sarcasm></doper_BS>

[Arkinsaw]

Sometimes the messes that we get ourselves into are so large, that there is no escaping the consequences. I wonder how she could have thought hiding this from her family and the police was possible... she had told her friend about it, after all. Unbelieveable. Where is reality, for some people?

She was well in reality. She knew that she was drugged up, that she was driving, that she killed a guy. Not a good combination in court. So she threw the dice, all or nothing, and lost.

A good reason not to drink or do drugs and drive. Because what normally would be an accident becomes manslaughter. Even if it is completely not your fault, had nothing to do with your intoxication, and was just a freak accident....the fact that you are intoxicated is going to equal manslaughter.

[EllaMinnow]

Please add me to the ping list.

[MEG33]

They are trying to discount her confession as being under duress because she was a scared kid(25 yrs old) and intimidated by the police officer.A female should have been in the room.Sob

[onevoter]

What this report leaves out but was reported after the incident happened was that when she "talked about it" at a party, she giggled and said, "I killed a white man." Where is the outrage that should accompany this story and why has it been brushed under the table and cleaned up for the national news. If this had been a white person who killed a black man and giggled that she "killed a black man" it would have been all over the news.

[csvset]

smoked pot, took ecstasy and drank heavily

What are the symptoms of someone under the influence of ecstasy?

[EggsAckley]

I have a question: Did Mallard have a cell phone? My money says she DID, everybody's got them these days. The prosecutor was talking about all the different ways Mallard could have gone for help, but no mention of a cell phone.



Inquiring minds.....blah blah blah

[RonF]

Sarcasm noted. But the (user-, not dealer-level) drug charges are miniscule compared to the charges for killing this guy. The drug use may well have led to this problem, or it may not (I have almost hit kids wearing dark clothing on ill-lit streets at night while completely sober), but what she'll be punished for is hitting someone and then not taking what steps she could to save his life.

The drugs were very likely a contributing factor to her giving in to "It's all about me" instead of sacrificing her reputation in order to see that this man survived.

[Sir Gawain]

Erowid has all that info.

[newgeezer]

What are the symptoms of someone under the influence of ecstasy?

At first, they question all drug laws. After continued use, they proclaim oneness with the Libertarian Party. ;O)

[Grammy]

Just an accident huh?

Seems to me she was aware enough to know she was in trouble.

Hope she likes orange jump suits.

[South40]

"...smoked pot, took ecstasy and drank heavily before hit and run".

Correction:

Smoked pot, took ecstasy and drank heavily before MURDER.

[Sir Gawain]

Nice gungrabber logic you have there.

[Bubba_Leroy]

I wonder how she could have thought hiding this from her family and the police was possible

If she hadn't started talking about it at parties she probably would have gotten away with it.

I guess claiming that she was too stoned to know what she was doing is a better defense than the truth, that she is just too damned stupid to live.

[Bubba_Leroy]

If she gets off with this defense it will become the standard defense for all DWIs. "It wasn't my fault that I was driving drunk, I was drunk."

[KCmark]

This is an alchohol problem. As drinking is so much more, so very much more intense than pot (I haven't ever done X, but I believe it is a speed high), I wouldn't even have mentioned it. A smattering of blue in a swimming pool of red.

[Tamar1973]

Sarcasm noted. But the (user-, not dealer-level) drug charges are miniscule compared to the charges for killing this guy. The drug use may well have led to this problem, or it may not (I have almost hit kids wearing dark clothing on ill-lit streets at night while completely sober), but what she'll be punished for is hitting someone and then not taking what steps she could to save his life.

I don't know the drug laws in Texas or the laws related to the licensing of nurses, but if she was in California, even those "minor" drug charges" would have cause her to permanently lose her nursing license. Even something seemingly unreleated to nursing, like shoplifting could result in permanently losing your nursing license.

Nurses are held to a higher standard than doctors in California, that's for sure.

[MizSterious]

"...it was an accident, not murder."

Hitting him might have been an accident. Letting him bleed to death on her car--deliberately--was murder. Nothing accidental about that.

[Senator_Blutarski]

A former nurse's aide smoked pot, took ecstasy and drank heavily in the hours before she hit a homeless man and drove home while he was lodged in her windshield...

She pleaded not guilty? Even if running into him was an accident, leaving him to die in the garage was no accident. Being in a drug induced haze is hardly an excuse.

I guess for some people the word "responsibility" does not appear in the dictionary.

[right wing]

You have a VERY good point! Surely the person who reported her giggling about hitting a white man at the party will be called to testify. When that happens, let's watch the usual suspects cover up!

[justshe]

Thanks for the ping! Watched the hearing today. The Defense, imo, is extremely weak, from what I've seen thus far. But then again......what plausible defense COULD they use?

[judgeandjury]

What are the symptoms of someone under the influence of ecstasy?

I don't know the answer to that question (I've never used ecstasy), but I do know a "symptom" of someone who is about to take ecstasy: a complete lack of common sense.

[Howlin]

I wish you could have heard her attorney in his opening argument today. All about how she was just driving down the road, minding her own business when -- BLAM -- there's a body right next to her ("as close to her as I am to this court reporter"); and what had been a "quiet ride" home was now REAL noisy, what with all the wind rushing in through the broken window and all. After all, she'd just been out for a night of fun and NOW THIS!

And she KNEW what she was doing; she kept going out to the garage to tell him how SORRY she was; and she just went into her house and COLLAPSED on the floor, sobbing.

And she did make a call, but it was to a friend to come help HER.

Mind you, all this time, she left that poor man with virtually NO FATAL injuries, hanging upside down in her car, head in the floorboard, feet and legs outside the car. He bled out from injuries that could have been readily treated had she not driven by a battery of phones, open gas stations, and a fire department and POLICE DEPARTMENT for SEVEN MILES.

She should get the needle.

[Howlin]

A female WAS just outside the door and could see her through the window.

And SOB is exactly right. From all I can tell, the ONLY thing this girl has done to help rectify the damage she did is CRY. Lots and lots of crying.

[MeekOneGOP]

Well here is the thread history that I have :

06-22-2003
Windshield case: Was it murder?
(Chante Mallard Murder Trial)

Link to other pre-trial articles posted (Post #13)06-18-2003
Windshield case attracts spotlight -
Mallard trial focuses natl media, legal eye on FW courts again

03-07-2002:
Man Lives 2 Days Stuck In Broken Windshield (THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE - The woman should be SHOT!)

03-07-2002:
Police: Hit-Run Victim Lived Two Days Trapped in Windshield of Woman's Car

03-07-2002:
Texas Woman Charged With Allowing Hit-and-Run Victim to Die in Broken Windshield

03-07-2002:
Hit-and-run victim lodged in windshield for days

03-08-2002:
Woman accused of hitting man, leaving him to die on windshield
[Lawyer says case "overblown"]

03-08-2002:
Update on Man in Windshield story- Woman had sex while man was dying in garage, "A mistake" she says

03-08-2002:
Police: Hit-run victim left to die in car windshield

03-09-2002:
Windshield death suspect back in jail - Bail raised to $250,000 -
Informant Receives Death Threats

03-13-2002:
Man died in hours, doctor says -
Windshield Hit & Run Murder Charge Stands - Suspect Still in Jail

03-15-2002:
Son sues suspect in windshield fatality -
Murder Suspect Still in Jail

[Howlin]

Not that I heard them mention, but I'm sure her daddy had gotten her one. He took care of everything else.

[sweetliberty]

"why has it been brushed under the table and cleaned up for the national news"

That's an easy one. Obviously she is a poor oppressed black woman and is therefore not responsible for her actions. The terrible, evil white man made her do it. He should have known better than to get in the way of her car. He was asking for it. < /sarcasm >

[Howlin]

The only thing accidental about this is that it's a damn accident she got caught.

[MEG33]

For herself?

[Howlin]

The girl who called the police with the tip will testify.

[Howlin]

Yes. Don't ever doubt that that is what all that crying is about. It's all about her.

[AmishDude]

Even better: She was perfectly able to drive because as we all know, pot makes you drive better. Therefore, the pot and alcohol cancelled each other out. Of course, the ecstasy is the wildcard.

[Howlin]

This IS the trial!

[autoresponder]

It is a lifesyle for many.

Subhuman.

"...Tarrant County Medical Examiner Nizam Peerwani later said Biggs, whose left leg was nearly amputated, probably lived only a few hours after he was hit. He could have survived if he had received medical attention, Peerwani said.

When Biggs' body was found in the park, authorities had no leads until four months later, when a tipster said Mallard talked about the incident at a party."

MJ, ectasy, lotsa booze.

Whatta formula for fun!

[MEG33]

I can't imagine what she did.I imagine the horror and fear but not driving home,parking and doing nothing.

[basil]

Hey guys--she said she's sorry--even cried about it. What more can we possibly want? C-c-c-c-an't we just move along?/sarcasm

[Howlin]

For at least a day! Imagine!

She said that she just finally quit going out to the garage to see if he was still alive -- it was pretty upsetting to her.

[CindyDawg]

She isn't a nurse. She is a nurses aide. You can be certified in as little as 3 weeks. CNAs must pass a criminal check and most places won't even consider hiring if someone has had a felony in the last 10 years. Most CNA's are doing a fine (back aching) physically hard job and barely getting minimum wage but they do it because they love their residents. The state very well may pull her certification because of this. I doubt if she will be hirable after she does her time, anyway.

[autoresponder]

I wuz thinkin'of that!

Her use of two illegal substances and illegal abuse of of one legal substance becomes her defense.

There will be some here on FR that will agree with that defense.

Like the Pro-Choice single agenda of many Democrat women, illegal substance abuse can never have consequenses.

If it does, it is your fault.

[csvset]

Being in a drug induced haze is hardly an excuse.

Recently, there was a local case where a young woman killed a pedestrian while she was driving under the influence.. Yet she was sentenced to only six months in jail. Strange.

[supercat]

She should get the needle.

Unfortunately, I don't think her charges are written in such a way as to make that possible.

If they had been, I'd call her a fool for taking a jury trial (actually, I still might). A judge might confine his actions to within the narrow scope of the law. A jury is going to want to crucify this woman if they can.

[sweetliberty]

Unlikely without premeditation.

[Howlin]

I know that; I'll settle for life.

[Howlin]

The people inside the courtroom today said that when they showed the pictures of the man, the jurors were REPULSED.