Trial begins in death-by-windshield case

AP | 6/24/03 | ANGELA K. BROWN

[kattracks]

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — A friend of the woman accused of hitting a homeless man with her car and leaving him to die lodged in the windshield told jurors she urged her to call police and report the accident — to no avail.

Titilisee Fry testified Monday that she went to Chante Jawan Mallard's home after the accident and saw the man's bloody body in the garage, his head and shoulders jammed into the windshield and his legs bent over the roof.

"I ran back inside and said, `You need to do something. Call 911,'" Fry said. But Mallard refused to call for help. "I told her, 'I'm leaving. I don't want anything to do with this at all,'" Fry said.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys in the murder case both said Mallard, 27, smoked pot, took Ecstasy and drank heavily in the hours before she hit Gregory Biggs on a highway and drove home in the early hours of Oct. 26, 2001. The defense doesn't dispute what happened but says it was an accident, not murder.

Jurors saw pictures of Biggs' twisted and bruised body Monday as Mallard, a former nurse's aide, went on trial. Before opening statements, she pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence, which could lead to a sentence of up to 10 years. Mallard faces life in prison if convicted on the murder charge.

Although Mallard had taken drugs, prosecutor Christy Jack said she could have stopped at a nearby fire or police station or called an ambulance after she hit Biggs.

Jack said Mallard stopped briefly and tried to get Biggs off her car, but when she couldn't, she drove about a mile to her home. Mallard then called Fry, who came over and told her to call 911.

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

When Fry 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 I do?'" Kearney said.

Fry testified that she initially lied to police and a grand jury when she denied knowing anything about Biggs' death, but she said she was telling the truth now and had been granted immunity from prosecution on perjury charges.

Biggs, 37, a former bricklayer who had been living in a homeless shelter, was found dead Oct. 27, 2001, his body dumped in a park. Kearney said Mallard's friend Clete Jackson came up with the idea of dumping Biggs' body in Cobb Park.

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

Authorities initially had no leads. But four months after Biggs' body was found in the park, 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.

[gunnedah]

This was an accident to start with, maybe, but it certainly turned into a hate crime. But you can bet your government and the powers to be will play it down.
Our government along with the press and media have done one hll of a job brainwashing America and down the road there will be a price to pay and some are even paying it today.
This man may have been homeless but he had feelings and was allowed to suffer untold pain for 2 or three days.If this does not deserve the death penalty then the law is not only unjust it is a damn farce.

[waterstraat]

as Mallard, a former nurse's aide,

who wants to be cared for by this person? I would have no problem with the death penalty in this case, but it wont happen.

[Alberta's Child]

Titilisee Fry testified Monday that she went to Chante Jawan Mallard's home . . .

Sounds like one of those cases where all parties involved should be sent to prison without a trial -- just for having stupid names that cry out "I'm nothing but a cartoon character!"

[Non-Sequitur]

This was an accident to start with, maybe, but it certainly turned into a hate crime.

Oh I doubt that it was a hate crime. The suspect seems to be too stupid to figure out something like this for racial reasons.

[Conspiracy Guy]

Sounds like her friend needs to be on trial too. She left because Mallard wouldn't call the police? Does Mallard own the only phone in town? An Iraqi lawyer WALKS miles round trip several times to tell US forces where an American is being hed. This pond scum can't dial 911. This makes me PUKE.

[TomGuy]

Considering all the Scott Peterson coverage to ad nauseum, I noticed FoxNews did cover the Mallard case some yesterday.

I watched Gretta last nite to see if she'd jump on it. She has been so obsessed with Scott Peterson. She did give the Mallard case some coverage with her legal panel of experts. I was surprised, though, that Gretta seemed so ignorant of even the major facts in the Mallard case. I got the distinct impression that the Mallard case wasn't as interesting to Gretta as the Scott Peterson case is.

[onevoter]

Once again, the news media failed to mention that the reason they caught up with her is that she was heard giggling at a party that she, "killed a white man." If this had been done in reverse, Scott Peterson would be old news because all we would be hearing about from the press and the major news networks would be the "hate crime in Texas."

[Kenton]

This was an accident to start with, maybe, but it certainly turned into a hate crime

I'd have to respectfully disagree with you on that. It was a horrible tragedy caused by an idiot driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol, and the fact that she left him in the windshield to die is abhorent. However, I don't see anything racial in it.

That doesn't matter anyway, they'll throw the book at this stupid b*tch. And she deserves it.

[never4get]

What gets me....Just how does a person drive a mile to her house with the head and shoulders of the body embedded into her windshield and the legs dangling on the front hood? Unless this is what people normally see in the neighborhood she was driving through then why the hell didn't anyone call 911? What the heck is wrong with people these days????

[newfreep]

I recall in some original postings the woman was voicing rather strong racial epithets toward the white victim to her friends. Does anyone else recall that?

[writmeister]

Since Mallard is charged with a first-degree felony, seeking a hate crime charge would not increase her punishment.

[Kenton]

I hadn't heard that part.

[dufekin]

It was in the "early hours;" the rest of the neighborhod was probably asleep, or thinking they were hallucinating from sleep deprivation.

[TomGuy]

What gets me....Just how does a person drive a mile to her house with the head and shoulders of the body embedded into her windshield and the legs dangling on the front hood? Unless this is what people normally see in the neighborhood she was driving through then why the hell didn't anyone call 911? What the heck is wrong with people these days????

The area between where she hit him and she lives is not built up. It is an industrial area, so little "after hours" local traffic. Also, it was 2 or 3 a.m. (dark).

[TomGuy]

This thread has links to much more information, when Mallard was arrested and the trail.

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

[bmwcyle]

She sounds like a victim to me. /sarcasm

[SerpentDove]

MeeknPING!

[Maigrey]

IIRC, she was high as a kite, and stayed that way for a time, but then came down and still did nothing for the victim she impaled.

[myprecious]

However, I don't see anything racial in it.

I didn't see the racial angle until today.

The testimony from Fry yesterday stated specifically that Mallard called her and said that she had hit "a white guy". It stood out in her comments.

Oddly, this was the first time I had heard that the victim was white and I am in the Dallas media area. You have to ask if the races were reversed, wouldn't this have been a MAJOR issue?