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]

I know where you are coming from, but as long as we refuse to aknowledge minorities commit hate crimes the more the wound will fester and the fraud on America goes on. This is not a one way street regardless of what our government and media keep cramming down our throats.
And The Beat Goes On!

[gunnedah]

I have looked for it and cant find it. But I read somewhere on the internet about remarks she made according to the racial lines. I wish I had copied them but didnt.
I know it is hersey but the problem needs to be addresses rather than swept under the rug.
Dont fool yourself about the verdict and her stupidity.

[Kenton]

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.

Sorry, that sounds descriptive, not pejorative.

I'm not trying to stick up for this woman, but unless she intentionally ran the guy down (or up through her windshield, in this case) just because he was white, I still can't see how race comes into this except coincidentally. She probably would have been just as negligent after the accident if the victim was black. It's a horrible tragedy caused by criminal negligence, not a race-based attack. Or that's my take on it, anyway.

Feel free to disagree, if there's something here I'm missing...

[OREALLY]

Mallard...Lord I'm sorry...I got caught !!!!

[MeekOneGOP]

Thank you, sir ! And while I'm pinging my list, I have a question:

Would anybody be interested in me posting a Live Thread for the Court TV Trial coverage ?
Let me know. I'll be more than happy to do so if there's an interest.

Thanks !

Trial begins in death-by-windshield case

Excerpt:

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.

Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my Chante Mallard Murder Trial ping list!. . .don't be shy.

[myprecious]

not a race-based attack

I agree. She was way too high for this tragedy to considered an attack. This would have been considered criminal negligance. Sad, but not intentional.

The issue is about the the 2-3 days that the guy was dying a painful death in her garage. She (and her friends) made a conscious decision not to get him medical care. That is when the murder occured.

Like I said, the testimony of Fry just sounded odd that the victim's race was discussed even before that fact that he was still alive. Her recorded testimony yesterday was chilling.

[TomGuy]

I still can't see how race comes into this except coincidentally.

Mark Furman used the N-word 15 years ago! So there you have it!

lol---I'm being facetious. If the victim were Black and the driver white; this whole case would be bigtime news (remember Jasper, TX).

I do agree, that the initial accident was not race-based. But, her treatment of the victim (still alive, bleeding, dying in her garage) and statements to friends later showed a definite disdane. At a party (where her involvement case started to unravel), she bragged about killing a "white guy". This was 4 months afterward. Someone at the party heard her bragging, etc., and informed the police.

[MeekOneGOP]

Gregory Biggs

Chante Mallard

Chante Mallard (left) is accused of striking
Gregory Biggs with her car and leaving him
to die in the windshield.

[MeekOneGOP]

Thread history on this story:

06-23-2003 (Trial Begins)
Mallard pleads not guilty to murder - smoked pot,
took ecstasy and drank heavily before hit and run

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

[Ditter]

I don't see a hate crime here, just layers of stupidity by all involved. This woman would not have taken a black man to the hospital either, she was too concerned about her own skin to notice his.

[Blake#1]

Yes, yes, yes!!! I recall this back when it first became known. Smiles at a party about killing a "white".

[gunnedah]

Stupidity and alcohol- does that mean EXCUSE?

[Ditter]

What are you asking me, do you think she did this because she is evil? Come on, she is stupid & selfish! Prisons are full of stupid people along with the evil. May she reside there soon, for a looooooong time!

[laughing_gas]

And Showtime will make a made-for-cable movie about this event, just like they did with their recent JASPER, TEXAS. Right?

[Freedom4US]

There has long been a media blackout (oops) with respect to the racial "overrepresentation" of black on white crime. Just why this is so, I've no idea. What it *does* do, is give white supremacists and their ilk a pretty big talking point - most stereotypes have at least a grain of truth in them, after all. Hiding reality under the rug just makes things worse in the long run.

[Freedom4US]

I remember explaining to a "liberal" in a conversation about hate crimes legislation that a white is 9 times more likely to be killed by a black than the reverse. She couldn't believe it - "What is your source for that" etc. She was genuinely surprised, since all of her worldview was shaped by the media and academia. There are some thoroughly confused people out there.

[headsonpikes]

Mallard's a dead duck.

Her depraved indifference should mean life without parole.

But I suppose she'll play a handful of victim cards, herself, and be back on the street within a few years.

[MEG33]

The accounts vary as to what she told happened.The medical examiner said it took him several hours(not days) to die.

[al_c]

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

And that says hate crime to you?