Posted on 12/04/2002 5:09:03 PM PST by Abcdefg
Hearing halted in body dumping
By Melody Mcdonald Star-Telegram Staff Writer
FORT WORTH - A bond reduction hearing for a man accused of helping dump the body of a pedestrian lodged in a windshield was abruptly adjourned Tuesday when a prosecution witness contradicted her grand jury testimony.
Attorneys were less than an hour into the hearing for Clete Denel Jackson, who has been in the Tarrant County Jail since June with bail set at $105,555, when Magistrate Judge Gene Grant recessed the hearing.
He ordered the witness, Raini Dae Ellingson, the defendant's girlfriend and the mother of one of his nine children, to contact her attorney, "discuss with him what is going on" and return to the courtroom this morning.
The issue arose when Ellingson testified Tuesday that she did not call police to report who may have been involved in removing and disposing of the body. A prosecutor then showed her a transcript of her grand jury testimony in which she said she had called police with that information.
Jackson, 28, was indicted in June on a charge of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence in the death of 37-year-old Gregory Glenn Biggs, whose body was found in Cobb Park on Oct. 27, 2001.
Police say Chante Jawan Mallard, a nurse's aide, hit Biggs with her Chevrolet Cavalier while driving home from a bar near the East Loop 820 split with U.S. 287. Police said she panicked, drove the car home with Biggs lodged in the windshield and parked it in the garage, leaving him in the windshield until he died of blood loss and shock.
Police arrested Mallard in February after a woman told police that she heard Mallard talking about the incident at a small gathering. Inside Mallard's garage, police found the damaged Cavalier with blood and hair visible. The car's seats had been removed and were found in the home's back yard, one of them burned, police have said.
Jackson and his cousin, Herbert Tyrone Cleveland, were indicted after investigators accused them of helping remove and dump the body.
In September, Cleveland pleaded guilty to tampering with physical evidence and has promised to testify against Mallard and Jackson. In exchange, he will be sentenced to nine years in prison.
Mallard, 26, was indicted on a murder charge and remains in the Tarrant County Jail with bail set at $250,000. Her case is expected to go to trial in June.
In Tuesday's bond reduction hearing, Jackson's grandmother, Lue Dora Smith, testified for the defense that she has been trying to raise money for Jackson's bail bond, but so far, she has only pulled together about $2,300 -- not enough to post the percentage required for Jackson to make bail.
She testified that Jackson has no money of his own and said that he can't work because he's incarcerated and that his mother and other grandmother are dead. She told the judge she believes that Jackson will be able to find work if he can post bond.
On cross-examination, Assistant District Attorney Richard Alpert, who is handling the case with prosecutors Christy Jack and Miles Brissette, questioned Smith about her grandson's previous living arrangements and relationships, as well as his work and criminal history.
In response to his questions, she acknowledged that her grandson had spent time in prison for burglary of a habitation, had used drugs and had fathered more than five children -- but she wasn't sure how many.
Afterward, defense attorney Bill Harris submitted a letter written by a pastor Jackson had met in jail and rested his case.
Prosecutors then called Ellingson, Jackson's girlfriend, to the stand. Shortly into her testimony, prosecutor Jack asked her whether she had ever called police and told them that she knew who had helped move Biggs' body?
"No, I did not," Ellingson replied.
"No, you did not?" Jack asked sarcastically.
Jack then showed Ellingson a copy of the transcript of her grand jury testimony in which she apparently testified that she had contacted authorities. Again, Ellingson denied making any such call.
"I never contacted anyone," Ellingson said.
"Are you saying you lied to the grand jury?" Jack asked.
At that point, defense attorney Harris told the judge that Ellingson probably needed to consult her attorney.
Judge Grant agreed and, shortly thereafter, adjourned the hearing until this morning. Jackson, who kept his head bowed and rubbed his brow throughout much of the hearing, was quickly moved into a holding cell to be taken back to jail.
IIRC the driver was quoted as saying, "I hit some white man.", and then wouldn't take any responsibility for her actions, by trying to hide both the victim and the evidence.
At that point, defense attorney Harris told the judge that Ellingson probably needed to consult her attorney.
Whoopsie.
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