Grand jury indicts woman in windshield death

The Dallas Morning News ^ | April 25, 2002 | By JIM DOUGLAS / WFAA-TV and JASON TRAHAN / The Dallas Morning News

[MeekOneGOP]

Grand jury indicts woman in windshield death

04/25/2002

By JIM DOUGLAS / WFAA-TV and JASON TRAHAN / The Dallas Morning News

The Fort Worth woman accused of hitting a pedestrian and allowing him to die while stuck in her windshield was indicted for murder Thursday.

Chante J. Mallard, 25, could face a maximum sentence of life in prison for the death of Gregory Glenn Biggs, 37.

Ms. Mallard was being held Thursday in the Tarrant County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail. She could not be reached for comment.

 

Chante J. Mallard

Mike Heiskell, Ms. Mallard's attorney, said he couldn't comment because of the gag order issued in the case by 371st District Judge James Wilson.

"I am going to follow that," Mr. Heiskell said.

Before the gag order, Mr. Heiskell said the accusations against his client had been blown out of proportion.

Police said Ms. Mallard struck Mr. Biggs with her car on the highway late one night in October 2001. She drove home with Mr. Biggs entangled in her windshield and parked the car in her garage, police said.

 

Gregory Glenn Biggs

Mr. Biggs' death remained a mystery until an informant came forward about four months later.

The Tarrant County medical examiner has said that Mr. Biggs died within hours inside the garage. Police initially said he suffered for days.

A Tarrant County grand jury indicted Ms. Mallard for murder because she not only failed to stop and render aid, but also kept anyone else from possibly saving Mr. Biggs' life. The indictment uses the term "kidnapping."

In a second count, Ms. Mallard is also charged with tampering with evidence. Her bloody car seat was removed and burned before police could examine it. Grand jurors also found that Ms. Mallard used her car as a deadly weapon.

After Mr. Biggs died, Ms. Mallard and at least one friend dumped his body in a nearby park, where he was found in late October, police said. Ms. Mallard was arrested in February.

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Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews/stories/wfaa020425_cm_mallard.255547af.html

[MeekOneGOP]

..........Strong message to follow.

I agree, she should face maximum.........

[Dane]

Thank you for the update. I am still horrified at the indifference she showed and according to earlier reports she was on ecstasy.

FR's Libertarian/Drug clique are strangely silent on this case.

[Dog Gone]

If they weren't considering upgrading the charge, I don't know why kidnapping would have been included. I suppose they could charge it as a separate crime without using it as an element of Capital Murder, but I'm not sure what the point of that would be.

To be honest, though, I think kidnapping in this case is far less obvious than murder. The case can technically be made, and probably should be, but I think it's more properly considered as a lesser included offense in this murder.

I hope it's tried as a Capital Murder case, although that's not what the current indictment provides. We'll have to see how this plays out.

[pabianice]

I think she's suffered enough...

[Skooz]

why not give her the death penalty?

Because lethal injection is far far too good for this .... "person."

[Ann Archy]

Hey look...she DID apologize to him....let her go...NOT!

When I originally read this story, I was sick to my stomach and thought it was the MOST BARBARIAN story I had EVER read. May he rest in peace.

[stands2reason]

Thx for the ping!

[E=MC²]

They should hang her upside down from a Texas overpass and allow Mack trucks doing 70 to make swipes at her. What a piece of human crap.

[Paulus Invictus]

Probation and community service for 30 days, maybe? No.. it's Texas. They should jail her for life along with her accomplices.

[Paulus Invictus]

Get serious! The woman is a black and the victim was white. In the oft-voiced opinion of the media and minorities, this was a justified revenge erasure. Hate crimes are those meant to be used exclusively to classify crimes committed by whites against any other human of color or sexual persuasion.

[weegee]

Thanks for the update. There's a number of articles I haven't searched for the latest details on (everything like the driver's license scandal in Tennessee to the recent Milan plane crash).

Things that picque the national interest seem to get dropped from the radar long before they reach their conclusion (remember the latest sex charges against Jeffery Jones and Paul "Pee Wee Herman" Rubens a couple of months back?).

[Melinator]

I don't know about Texas, but in many jurisdictions, killing someone by accidentally running them over is not capital murder. Accidentally running them over and then kidnapping them to your garage where they proceed to die during the ongoing commission of the crime is.

[FixitGuy]

Should make her cross the busiest intersection in Dallas, against the light, FOR LIFE, or until justice is served.

I'm open to designing & selling cross-hair hood ornaments!

[MeekOneGOP]

You're welcomed, FRiend! :O)

[Melinator]

FR's Libertarian/Drug clique are strangely silent on this case.

Perhaps they failed to anticipate that anyone would be so ignorant and disingenuous as to claim that Ecstasy made this pig of a woman behave as she did. Of course, they always underestimate the depths to which you are willing to sink. What are you, a defence attorney?

Congratulations Dane, you've just invented a new legal defense for this woman: the Ecstasy made her do it. Too bad that one doesn't work with crimes committed by people under the influence of alcohol. We could level charges against distilleries and nightclubs too!

[writmeister]

The problem with getting to a capital murder conviction is that you would need both intentional or knowing murder with an intent to kidnap. While the kidnapping is pretty clear, it is not as clear whether she intentionally or knowingly caused the death or merely recklessly caused the death. With recklessness, you only have felony-murder (death while in the course of committing another felony).

This offense has a sentencing range of 5 to life [life meaning thirty years before parole eligibility].

Even if they were to get a capital murder conviction, it seems unlikely they could get past the punishment special issues: deliberateness, future dangerousness and lack of mitigating circumstances.

[Dog Gone]

There are only a few things which raise murder in Texas to capital murder. Kidnapping in conjunction with a murder is one of them. Failure to render aid is not one of them.

It will be an interesting question whether an aggravated case of failure to render aid is the legal equivalent of kidnapping.

[MeekOneGOP]

Yeah, it's a horse of a different color, no doubt......a very unusual case. The real crime begins when she drives off and fails to get help for the victim. Up until then, it's a simple accidental hit 'n run. That's where a good DA earns his keep. It may be hard to prosecute, and if she'd just called 9-1-1, she'd face a lot less penalty. I'm not a lawyer, so just imho.........

[weegee]

I seem to recall that there was a kidnapping charge in the Byrd case even though originally he got into the car willingly.

I had the idea that this was also a case of kidnapping since he was brought into the garage (her residence) and not released.

[weegee]

She could have knocked the window out and left his body by the roadside. That would be an extreme case of hit and run. She carried the live body into her home. Ergo, kidnapping.