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

[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!