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Michael Ainsworth / DMN
Chante Mallard enters court today in Fort Worth.Posted on 06/26/2003 11:21:31 AM PDT by MeekOneGOP
Mallard found guilty in windshield death case
06/26/2003
FORT WORTH – A Tarrant County jury took less than a hour Thursday to find nurse's aide Chante Mallard guilty of murder in the death of Gregory Biggs, the homeless man she struck with her car and left to die in her shattered windshield.
There was no audible reaction in the courtroom as the guilty verdict was returned. Ms. Mallard, 27, stood between her two defense lawyers, Jeffrey Kearney and Reagan Wynn, before being led into a holding room.
The sentencing phase of her trial will resume at 2 p.m.Thursday.
Michael Ainsworth / DMN Chante Mallard enters court today in Fort Worth. |
Ms. Mallard was accused of hitting Mr. Biggs, a former school bus driver and bricklayer, after a night of drinking and taking drugs with a friend in October 2001. The impact of her car threw Mr. Biggs through her windshield and left his body lodged there.
In a panic, Ms. Mallard drove her car to her home and left Mr. Biggs in her garage, where he bled to death, prosecutors said.
"The evidence is overwhelming," prosecutor Christy Jack told jurors during closing arguments. "She took him to her garage, and concealed him from anyone who could render aid."
But defense attorneys argued that Ms. Mallard was not guilty of murder under Texas law for her actions that night.
"If you let your decision be influenced by sympathy, by media coverage, by emotion, your verdict will be forever compromised," Mr. Kearney said. "You cannot convict her if we're going to do this right under the law."
The defense effectively conceded that Ms. Mallard was guilty of failing to render aid to Mr. Biggs. A conviction on a charge of failing to render aid could lead to jail time, but is less severe than the felony murder charge of which Ms. Mallard was convicted.
Judge James R. Wilson explained to the jury before they began deliberations that they had three choices: To acquit Ms. Mallard, to convict her of failing to render aid or to convict her of murder.
Failing to help someone, even a dying person, is not murder as defined by Texas Law, Mr. Kearney said.
He told the jury that one of Ms. Mallard's friends, Clete Jackson, took control of disposing of Mr. Biggs' body after Ms. Mallard called him in a panic. Mr. Jackson is serving prison time for his role in dumping Mr. Biggs' body in a Fort Worth park.
Lead prosecutor Richard Alpert compared that scenario to associates of Hitler arguing that Hitler's minions were responsible for his crimes.
That drew an impassioned response from the defense.
"He's comparing the defense to someone like Hitler!" Mr. Kearney shouted to Judge Wilson as he sprung from his seat. "That's a totally improper comment!"
Judge Wilson sustained Mr. Kearney's objection to Mr. Alpert's comments, but the judge denied Mr. Kearney's subsequent request for a mistrial.
The defense said that prosecutors relied heavily on the testimony Titilesse "T" Caree Fry, who was with Ms. Mallard in the hours immediately before and after she hit Mr. Biggs.
"Miss Fry is a liar, having given false testimony to a grand jury earlier in the case," Mr. Kearney said.
Mr. Alpert argued, however, that defense attorneys were simply frustrated because they were competent, aggressive lawyers with an indefensible client.
Ms. Mallard's actions alone led to Mr. Biggs' death, he said.
"She could have called Clete or she could have called her brother," a Fort Worth firefighter on duty at the time Ms. Mallard hit Mr. Biggs, Mr. Alpert said.
"If you want to dispose of the body, you call Clete," he added.
Email dlevinthal@dallasnews.com
Chante Mallard
Good!
STAR-TELEGRAM ARCHIVES/RODGER MALLISON Chante Mallard attends a hearing in March 2002 that increased her bail to $250,000. Two men have pleaded guilty in the case and are expected to testify for the prosecution.
STAR-TELEGRAM ARCHIVES/JOYCE MARSHALL Gregory Glenn Biggs died within hours of being struck after Chante Mallard parked her car inside the garage of her house at 3840 Wilbarger Street , according to the Tarrant County medical examiner.
Where do parents come up with these names?
Thread history on this story:
06-26-2003
Windshield Verdict - Breaking Thread
06-25-2003 Trial Report
Defense, prosecution rest in windshield case
06-23-2003
Trial begins in death-by-windshield casePre-Trial Articles:
06-22-2003
Windshield case: Was it murder?
(Chante Mallard Murder Trial)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
I have a hard time grasping that kind of logic. Was this woman in jail since her 2001 arrest? Hopefully she was and hopefully she will receive a life sentence.
Yeah, the buzz would be saying "hate crime"
I saw your comment on the deleted duplicate breaking thread:She did not get 1st degree murder.
I wonder where I got the idea it was first degree murder ?
So then what are the sentencing options in this case? Can she still get life in prison ?
Sure, it's weak which is why the jury deliberated only long enough to have a donut and a restroom break before announcing their verdict.
The everybody does it defense is lame, too. Not everybody drives while impaired and those that do should do jail time.
Did I imagine it or is it true?
hehe ! I know, isn't that strange?
For some reason my first thought seeing your comments was a strange twist from Art Linkletter:
Parents say the darndest things !
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