Motorist given 60 year-sentence in windshield murder trial
 

Jurors Friday evening sentenced Chante Mallard to 50 years for the murder of a homeless man she hit with her car and then left to die embedded in the windshield.

Mallard was sentenced to 10 years for tampering with evidence. She was not fined for either conviction.

Under Texas law a person must serve half the term before becoming eligible for parole.

Mallard reacted with silence and tears. She tightly shut her eyes.

A local prosecutor had asked jurors to sentence Mallard, 27, to life in prison, the maximum sentence possible.

"She could have saved him," said Tarrant County Assistant District Attorney Christy Jack. "Doesn't that speak volumes about her character? Doesn't that speak volumes about the atrocity of this crime?"

Mallard could have been sentenced to as few as five years in prison.

Jack asked only for the sentence and not for a fine. "You cannot buy justice in this county," she said.

Defense attorney Jeff Kearney argued at length for leniency, pointing out that Mallard had no prior convictions, and saying that his client was placed in extraordinary circumstances.

"What she did is horrible, but I disagree with Ms. Jack, she is not a horrible person," Kearney said

Please don't destroy another life," Kearney added. "Please give her a chance to prove she can do something good."

Mallard appeared drained as she returned to the courtroom Friday for testimony during the sentencing phase. A toxicology expert was first on the stand Friday to explain the effects of the alcohol, marijuana and other drugs Mallard had taken the night of the crime

On Thursday, jurors delivered two guilty verdicts against Mallard, a former nurse's aide, for hitting Gregory Glenn Biggs and leaving him to die at her home.

The jury took less than an hour to find Mallard guilty of murder and to formally declare her guilty of tampering with evidence.

Biggs, a 37-year-old homeless man, was found in a park the day after the October 26, 2001, incident. Mallard was arrested four months later after a tip led authorities to her.

In her own testimony Thursday, Mallard sobbed as she apologized to Biggs' son and her own family and told the court she felt she deserved prison time.

"I am so truly sorry. I am so sorry, Brandon. I am so sorry for what I have caused your family and I am sorry for the pain I have put my family through," she said, addressing Biggs' son. "I am so sorry for the crime I've done to society, I really am very sorry."

Mallard, who admitted she had been drinking, smoking marijuana and doing the drug ecstasy the night of the accident, said drugs had ruined her life and she wanted to get treatment.

"Because I have ruined the lives of other people, I have ruined my family's life and I have put people through pain," she said.

Authorities later learned that Mallard's former boyfriend, Clete Jackson, and a cousin helped her dumped the body.

Mallard, Jackson and the cousin each pleaded guilty to tampering with the evidence. Jackson received a sentence of 10 years and the cousin, nine years

she hit pathfinder

pathfinder is sexy :1orglaugh

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60 years was kinda harsh :2 cents: :(

then his son came here to post about it

http://i.cnn.net/cnn/2003/LAW/06/27/...d.sentence.jpg

she does look sorry

So would you if you just realized that all you'd have to have done was admit it right then and there. You'd still do time but prolly not 60 years.

my friend got 84 years for a murder he didnt commit

serious? life is fucked up :(

I know a guy that whacked a couple of guys with an Axe, and got 8 years.

She wouldn't have gotten ANY time if she admitted it...The idiot was walking barefooted in the middle of the highway in the dark of night....He deserved to be hit...

If I was her, I would have gone home, brushed my teeth and taken a shower...changed my clothes, and called the police...

Interesting acquaintance you have.. Remind me not to mess around with you :thumbsup

She was high off her ass. She would have gotten time.

The prisons are full of people that didn't do it... just ask them and they'll tell you!

What country was that in?

In most countries the Judge does the sentencing not the Jury.

Interesting.

This seems to me like it's a gross miscarriage of justice. Yes a man died, but this was clearly an accident and yes she deserved punishment for being so completely oblivious to responsibility but not 50 years. What kind of justice is this? How does this serve anyone?

In finland, I think the maximum, I mean MAXIMUM (life sentance) is 12 years (or something). I think I'll go in a killing frenzy soon.

Fuckin eh!! 50 years for killing someone in a car ACCIDENT! Jesus, guys get 10-15 years for beating someone over the head repeatedly in bar fights with a bottle and they MEANT to do it. WTF?

It wasn't an accident that he died.

The guy was alive in the window of her car. If she would have taken him to the hospital or called the police he might not have died.

I believe she even admitted as much at the trial.

It's her fault the guy is dead, no matter if the initial incident was an accident.

You got that right!
She was fucking stupid no doubt but the murder charge seemed out of place. Man Slaughter is what seems more reasonable of a charge. But she really fucked up by dumping the body and not reporting it. And I can see how some people would feel that since the guy was still alive that she "intentialy" let him die.

The Korean grocer in LA that shot the 15 yr black girl in the back of the head as she left the store was convited and the judge gave her no jail time at all. That was a clear murder on video tape. http://www.aaregistry.com/african_am...atasha_Harlins
But hey, the car accident victum was White and this was Texas so I knew this lady was going to fry.
In fact, knowing that she had probably killed a White man with her car was probably enough to scare her into the stupidity that cause her not to get the guy to a hospital. She had no reason to belive that that guy would survive after seeing him in the windshield like that. This is Texas. A black running over a White can spark wide spread lynchings. It has happened many times before.

You said a lot right there. Texas, what more do you need to know?

agree with BVF...a drunk ass bitch of a c u n t killed my cousin and her 2 children..the baby was only 6 months old.

She got 10 years probation for vehicular manslaughter.

The bitch actually has the nerver to write my cousin's husband letter stating things like, "please leave me alone I've been through enough."

I'll agree with the manslaughter charge ONLY because I thought murder had to be premeditated.

But come on she drove past a police station, she drove past the firestation that her brother worked at, 2 places alone that could have offered or called in for assistance...and then left the guy in the windshield all night long going to check on him on occassion andhe's still moaning.

She got what she deserved no ifs ands or buts about it...I could care less if she was purple.

Wow, that was an amazingly stupid set of statements you made. Yeah, he was in the road so he's fair game.

I suppose it's just coincidence that no one <B>else</B> hit this guy, right? It wasn't her fault because she was drunk and high on two different drugs, it was his fault for being there. It's just the luck of the draw that all the sober people managed to not run this guy down.

SpaceAce

That the bitch ass c u n t needs to die.

No "innocent" person deserves to die..but the statement is true. If she had admitted to it and called the police she wouldn't be doing time.

She would have gone to trial and probably got off on probation.

Let's see, she was drunk, high on dope and high on ecstasy. Not only was she illegally operating a vehicle when she ran into this man, she drove home with him ALIVE in her windshield and left him in her garage to die. According to accounts, she came out several times to check on him while waiting for him to die. Reportedly, he was moaning in pain and perhaps begging for help.

Not only is she a danger to society because she is willing to drive around doped to the gills, she is also capable of and willing to sacrifice the lives of other human beings to cover a lesser crime.

Sixty years was not harsh.

SpaceAce

There is no such thing as drunk driving in Iraq. Alcohol is illegal.
But there will be drunk driving if democracy is installed.

"Lets vote to kill ourselves!"

:1orglaugh

There is no way she would have gotten probation under those circumstances. She was high and drunk and at the very least it was a hit-and-run even if she had come to her senses within minutes and called the police.

She would not have gotten 60 years but she certainly would have gotten jail time.

SpaceAce

ouch.

Oh yeah tell that to my dead cousin and her two dead children.

10 years probation when a drunk ass c u n t killed them.

Edited to add: I'm from Texas and this was in Texas in Dallas County. And this was for Vehicular Manslaughter.

the bitch drove home with the guy stuck in her windshield.
that's just plain fucked up.

she deserves worse.

An aberration in the criminal justice system. I'm sorry for your loss but your statement that it happened to someone you know doesn't really prove anything. I know details of this case and none about your cousin's case.

If it is a straight case of a drunk driver killing your cousin and her two children, probation is a ridiculous sentence and not what would be expected. If there are other factors (your cousin was also drunk, she was driving the wrong way on a freeway, she crossed the center line, she was running from the police, whatever) that you haven't listed, that could also effect a sentence.

SpaceAce

Nothing out of the ordinary. The family was driving home after 4th of july activities.

Her husband was driving, little Ray was in the front passenger seat, she was sitting in the back with the baby in the carrier.

The drunk girl crossed the median on the highway into their lane, Ray turned left to avoid her she tried to correct herself the impact was on little Ray's and my cousin's side, they were killed instantly.
The baby lived for a couple of hours after that and Ray survived with a broken shoulder.

I've seen worse in the criminal justice system in Texas. People think it's the wild wild west that everyone gets a hanging.

That's just not true.

They are trying to crack down on drunk drivers but there is no teeth in their laws.

My brother's-in-law father was caught drunk driving over 10 times before he ever served any jail time and that was over a span of about 20 years...and that was just being caught. The guy was a total alcoholic and had driven drunk more times than I could count.

Only after he served some jail time did he finally get prison time after being caught many more times.

Even though this chick was drunk, the guy was in the wrong place and if she had not been drunk it would have been considered his fault.

She could have stopped right there, called the police, plead guilty to all the other shit and there's a good chance a VERY good chance she would have not served any time.


Edited to add:

Even if she had we're talking months not years.

The stupid bitch hits someone.
The stupid bitch is supposed to stop and call the police.
The stupid bitch would have gotten off with a 1 or 2 years licence suspension and maybe 1 or 2 years probation.

The stupid bitch let a man die, head's stuck in her windshield.
The stupid bitch let him die slowly in her garage while she was dozing off her booze and drugs.
The stupid bitch comes out several time to see if the guy is dead.
The stupid bitch then went on to dispose of the body.

The stupid bitch deserves every single year of jail time she got.
Hopefully the stupid bitch will learn the joy of being gang raped with a broom stick by a bunch of rabid dykes.

Death to the stupid bitch...

Would the sentence really be that light for hitting someone while heavily intoxicated?

Read my post above about my cousin and her 2 children.

They were killed by a drunk driver and she got 10 years probation for vehicular manslaughter.

This was in Texas and in Dallas county...not Fort Worth but close enough.

Unfortunately; yes.
Laws are fucked up. rip off the IRS and you'll get fucked big times.
Rip off directv or dishnetwork and you get a $180 Millions fine
But kill someone while intoxicated, then if you can hire a decent lawyer and you will only get a light sentence.

:1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh :

You're the one with the stupid statements.....A pedestrian is NOT supposed to be walking in the middle of the HIGHWAY in the MIDDLE OF THE FUCKING NIGHT!! Every highway i've ever driven on has a sign saying "no pedestrians"....

What the fuck do you think people get charged with jaywalking for? It's because they're crossing the street while not in the crosswalk...So if you hit a pedestrian who is jaywalking, the sentence will be lighter than if you hit him while he was walking legally in the crosswalk...

I don't care how high and drunk you are....You wouldn't expect a crazy idiot to be walking in the middle of the highway in the middle of the night...

And maybe nobody else hit him before she did because she was the first one to come along that happened to be driving in the lane that he was walking in...

Damn, you're gonna play the blame game? He needed to get his loser homeless ass the fuck out of the middle of the highway

Of course, he's not supposed to be walking in the middle of the fucken highway!!!!
But that stupid bitch is not supposed to park her car in her fucken garage with a half dead guy stuck in her fucken windshield!!!!!

That stupid bitch was supposed to call the police and report it.

correct....

It was just a case of the paths and fates of two extreme idiots crossing....

well, i don't know about where YOU come from but in TEXAS when our car hits something and it crashes through the windshield...we stop the car.

what she did -the whole of it- was fucked up.

exactly. :thumbsup

aussie rebel!

That's not the point I made. As I said she should do some time for gross neglect but 50 years common? That poor girl was probably hysterical with some guy dangling from her window. Many people would do the same I bet.

Edit: I guess many people would not let a guy still moaning hang in the window all night, but was this moaning bit a fact or was he dead on impact?

That's fucked, I had a friend who was killed by his "friend" with an axe about 10 years ago, and the fucker's due to be released soon.

:thumbsup Still it's a shame that 2 lives had to be lost, and one will have to be supported by tax money so we all are still losing on this.