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

MyCFNow ^

[chance33_98]

H2 CLASS="StoryHead">Lawyer: Driver Is Not A Monster

Man Left For Dead In Her Garage

Posted: 7:30 a.m. EST March 8, 2002

FORT WORTH, Texas -- A woman accused of hitting a homeless man with her car, driving home with him lodged in her broken windshield and ignoring his pleas as he bled to death in her garage is not the monster being portrayed by prosecutors, her attorney said.

Police said Chante J. Mallard, 25, waited two days for the man to die, ignoring his pleas for help, and then dumped his body in a park with the help of friends.

Mallard was charged with murder Wednesday night and released after posting bail. She faces five years to life in prison if convicted.

"She is not the monster that police and prosecutors are making her out to be," said Mike Heiskell, Mallard's attorney. "She was simply a frightened, emotionally distraught young woman who had an accident, panicked and made a wrong choice."

Heiskell said his client is guilty only of failing to stop and render aid -- not murder.

He said the victim, Gregory Biggs, died a few hours after Mallard drove home and was in her garage no more than 24 hours. He said her friends advised her not to call for help and suggested dumping the body.

Biggs, whose body was found in a park on Oct. 27, suffered cuts and broken legs but had no internal injuries that would have caused his death, according to the medical examiner's office.

"There's a pretty good possibility he'd be alive if he'd gotten help, but she concealed the body in the garage ... so that's why she's charged with murder," Fort Worth Police Lt. David Burgess said.

When Biggs' body was found, authorities suspected he had been hit by a car, but they had no leads until a tipster came forward last week.

Biggs, 37, had struggled with mental illness and had been staying at a homeless shelter, where workers said he often brought them flowers. He was estranged from his mother and sister. He also had a 19-year-old son who only recently found out about the tragic death, relatives said.

The son, Brandon Biggs, has questions for Mallard, but he said he isn't angry.

"I pray for her, actually," the high school senior told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in Friday's editions.

"I'd just like to talk to her -- just ask questions and see why, to get a better understanding I suppose," he said.

Police reported finding Biggs' blood and hair on Mallard's car, still in her garage more than four months after the crash. The windshield and front seats had been removed.

The tipster told police that Mallard said she was drinking and taking the drug Ecstasy one night in October when her car hit the man along a Fort Worth highway near her house.

The tipster said Mallard drove home, had sex with her boyfriend, then went back to the garage to find Biggs still alive, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.

In her statement to police, however, Mallard said she felt "like someone had slipped her something" and did not mention any drug use, the Dallas Morning-News reported in Friday's editions. Heiskell said the tipster's claims were embellishments.

"This was not a friend of Chante's. In fact, they were enemies," he said. He added that the tipster wanted to portray Mallard "in the worse light possible."

Mallard later told investigators she apologized to the victim when she returned to the garage several times, but she never called for help as he moaned and pleaded with her, according to the affidavit.

"We intend to prosecute this fully," said Richard Alpert, a Tarrant County assistant district attorney.

Mallard told investigators she removed the car seats and burned them because she was afraid of being caught and going to jail, according to the affidavit. She planned to burn the car and buy another one after receiving her income tax refund, according to the affidavit.

Charges may be filed against the friends who helped dump Biggs' body, Burgess said.

Previous Story:

• March 7, 2002: Man Lives 2 Days Stuck In Windshield

[Northpaw]

Her attorney says that she did make several attempts to get him off her windshield....

.....by using the sprayer and wipers.

[goldstategop]

Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.... pictures are worth a thousand word. Now I understand why the woman is getting off lightly... she's black. And well since the homeless guy was a dead white male, he got his just reward. End of story to the liberals.

[chance33_98]

My rage is against the Main stream Media.

This is WAY WAY WORSE then the white guys dragging the black guy to his death - WHERE ARE YOU LIBERALS AT NOW???????????????????

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

"She is not the monster that police and prosecutors are making her out to be," said Mike Heiskell, Mallard's attorney. "She was simply a frightened, emotionally distraught young woman who had an accident, panicked and made a wrong choice."

E-Mail-Freep Mike Heiskell

Johnson, Vaughn & Heiskell, Attorneys at Law

Martindale Lawyer Locator Lookup for Mike Heiskell
Michael P. Heiskell
Managing Partner
Johnson, Vaughn & Heiskell
600 Texas Street, Second Floor
Fort Worth, Texas 76102
(Tarrant Co.)
Telephone: 817-877-5321; Metro: 817-429-5140
Fax: 817-870-1861

[BibChr]

Good points, thank you. I feel for people who panic momentarily under pressure and all, but... good heavens!

Dan

[goldstategop]

My friend, it IS a hate crime. But its politically incorrect. I have no doubt though if the skin color of the perp and the victim were reversed, you'd be looking at heavy sentence enhancements here. Not to mention the mandatory presence of Action Shackson and Al Sharpton yodeling about how another black man was killed by da whitey and done in by the racist system.

[hellinahandcart]

felony murder (death caused by kidnapping)

This is exactly what I thought yesterday (and I'm not a lawyer). And anyone who helped her get rid of the body would be an accessory after the fact, yes? I have no idea why they are not pursuing this. And you don't either. Between your confusion and mine, this whole thing stinks to high heaven, doesn't it?

[hellinahandcart]

I mean, this is TEXAS. This is not a Joke Justice state like Massachusetts. What the hell is going on in Fort Worth?

[Paulus Invictus]

Soon we will hear "it's all about sex, time to move on," a truly clintinoid statement made by demoncRATs and now a part of our culture. Call Cochrane and she'll "do no time as there is no crime..." (I can hear it now)

[hopespringseternal]

I mean, this is TEXAS. This is not a Joke Justice state like Massachusetts. What the hell is going on in Fort Worth?

The DFW area is run by commies.

[SpookBrat]

Bump!!

[hangin' chad]

OK, you're a racist

Actually, I think the perp in this case is the racist. Apparently, she was laughing to friends about running down a "white man". Her subsequent actions speak volumes about how she feels about white people.

[Dave S]

I thought it said five years TO life.

Most likely she will be senteneced at the far end of what is allowable. I think they may be able to get premeditation since the man was alive and likely would have lived if she hadnt left in her windshield locked up in her garage. Seems like a smart prosecutor could throw in "kidnapping" charge which is a death penalty charge.

[lentulusgracchus]

Only five years in jail?

Sounds like time to throw the book at someone, then stack the sentences, and then bring on a federal trial for having denied the decedent his civil rights, and let her do some federal time while waiting to come home to the state time.

That's if they can't do better than a five-year charge. What about voluntary manslaughter? Second-degree murder?

I want some videotape of this guy's dead body with MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech booming in the background. About how people were all going to be nice to one another.

Question: Would nurse's aide Mallard have done this to a brother?

[chance33_98]

I think they may be able to get premeditation since the man was alive and likely would have lived if she hadnt left in her windshield locked up in her garage.

She will plea bargain down to abuse of a corpse and failure to report and accident....

[Paulus Invictus]

Yeah but, a black oppressed, sex-starved, druggie female merits more NOW Brownie points than a homeless white man. She's a perfect "victim." It's all a mat\ter of who has the most NOW points. NOW will trash the white guy who was dumb/drunk/stoned/etc enough to get in front of the victim's car. He was at fault, you see, (or do you?)

[chance33_98]

NOW will trash the white guy who was dumb/drunk/stoned/etc enough to get in front of the victim's car. He was at fault, you see

NOW protects liberal women, NAACP protects liberal blacks, And Smith & Wesson protects conservative whites :)

[Nick Danger]

had sex with her boyfriend

Oh good. There's a boyfriend. It was looking for a while like there would be no man to blame for this. Even the media couldn't think of a way to pin this on the guy who bled to death. Breaking and entering for having his head come through her windshield? That's a stretch. It was his fault he died, because he didn't yell loud enough for the neighbors to hear? That's a possibility. Maybe we could charge him with jaywalking. The trouble is, none of that sounds like it would wash.

Still, without a man to blame, the justice system is paralyzed. All we can do is let her out on bail, and keep looking. If someone is to be punished and vilified for this, we need to find a man. And now we have one.

I can hardly wait for the first article explaining why this boyfriend is the real perp, and why poor little Chante is actually the victim. And never mind the homeless guy, he's of no more value in the moral calculus here than the Yates children are in that case.

[TomGuy]

with MLK's "I Have a Dream"

She drove with Biggs from 820 (freeway) up Highway 287 to her house. If I remember right, that section of Highway 287 in that area of Ft. Worth is,ironically, also named Martin L King Jr Freeway.