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Texas Jury Sees Bloody Car Parts in Windshield Case
Tue June 24, 2003 05:34 PM ET
By Jon Herskovitz
FORT WORTH, Texas (Reuters) - Texas jurors on Tuesday saw bloodied parts of a car belonging to a nurse's aide accused of hitting a homeless man with her automobile and leaving him wedged in the windshield until he bled to death.
Chante Mallard, 27, is accused of murdering Greg Biggs, a homeless man, by striking him with her car in 2001 after a night of drinking and drug use. Prosecutors say she left Biggs, 37, to bleed to death in her garage while she plotted with friends for two days about how to dispose of the body.
A forensics expert called by prosecutors in the case before State District Judge James Wilson's court speculated the head of the victim struck part of the car just inches from the driver, while the victim's cut left hand dripped blood into a pocket of the passenger's side door.
Max Courtney, the forensics expert, showed jurors a center console cut from the interior of Mallard's car and pointed out blood stains on the piece, which he said may have come from the victim wheezing or coughing up blood.
After pointing at one, Courtney said: "The only explanation I could come up with is expirated blood from a person's mouth."
Dressed in a light green jacket and white blouse, Mallard, who has pleaded not guilty to murder, stared down expressionlessly at a table while pieces of her blood-stained car were brought into court.
James Sowder, a paramedic and captain in the Ft. Worth Fire Department, later testified that the injuries Biggs suffered would not have been life-threatening had they been treated.
"My opinion is there is not a member of the Fort Worth Fire Department that could not have saved Mr. Biggs' life with basic life support care," Sowder said under questioning from prosecutors, who argue Mallard had several chances to seek medical aid but refused to do so.
Sowder said a person who suffered injuries similar to Biggs' had a "zero-percent" chance of survival without medical assistance.
If convicted of murder, Mallard could get five to 99 years in prison, or a life sentence, which in Texas is at least 40 years without parole. At the start of the trial on Monday, Mallard pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of altering evidence, which brings a sentence of two to 10 years.
Defense attorneys on Monday said the incident left Mallard hysterical and confused. They said she cried and continually apologized to Biggs who was groaning while lodged in her car, and she left it to friends to dispose of the body, which was dumped in a city park.
Mallard was accused of striking Biggs as she drove home in October 2001 after a night out during which she drank 69-cent bar drinks, took ecstasy and smoked marijuana.
Police have said Biggs was hurled head-first through the windshield of Mallard's car, with his broken legs lying across the car's hood.
Mallard told investigators she panicked as she drove less than 2 miles with Biggs stuck in her windshield and parked the car in her garage.
Tue June 24, 2003 05:34 PM ET
By Jon Herskovitz
FORT WORTH, Texas (Reuters) - Texas jurors on Tuesday saw bloodied parts of a car belonging to a nurse's aide accused of hitting a homeless man with her automobile and leaving him wedged in the windshield until he bled to death.
Chante Mallard, 27, is accused of murdering Greg Biggs, a homeless man, by striking him with her car in 2001 after a night of drinking and drug use. Prosecutors say she left Biggs, 37, to bleed to death in her garage while she plotted with friends for two days about how to dispose of the body.
A forensics expert called by prosecutors in the case before State District Judge James Wilson's court speculated the head of the victim struck part of the car just inches from the driver, while the victim's cut left hand dripped blood into a pocket of the passenger's side door.
Max Courtney, the forensics expert, showed jurors a center console cut from the interior of Mallard's car and pointed out blood stains on the piece, which he said may have come from the victim wheezing or coughing up blood.
After pointing at one, Courtney said: "The only explanation I could come up with is expirated blood from a person's mouth."
Dressed in a light green jacket and white blouse, Mallard, who has pleaded not guilty to murder, stared down expressionlessly at a table while pieces of her blood-stained car were brought into court.
James Sowder, a paramedic and captain in the Ft. Worth Fire Department, later testified that the injuries Biggs suffered would not have been life-threatening had they been treated.
"My opinion is there is not a member of the Fort Worth Fire Department that could not have saved Mr. Biggs' life with basic life support care," Sowder said under questioning from prosecutors, who argue Mallard had several chances to seek medical aid but refused to do so.
Sowder said a person who suffered injuries similar to Biggs' had a "zero-percent" chance of survival without medical assistance.
If convicted of murder, Mallard could get five to 99 years in prison, or a life sentence, which in Texas is at least 40 years without parole. At the start of the trial on Monday, Mallard pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of altering evidence, which brings a sentence of two to 10 years.
Defense attorneys on Monday said the incident left Mallard hysterical and confused. They said she cried and continually apologized to Biggs who was groaning while lodged in her car, and she left it to friends to dispose of the body, which was dumped in a city park.
Mallard was accused of striking Biggs as she drove home in October 2001 after a night out during which she drank 69-cent bar drinks, took ecstasy and smoked marijuana.
Police have said Biggs was hurled head-first through the windshield of Mallard's car, with his broken legs lying across the car's hood.
Mallard told investigators she panicked as she drove less than 2 miles with Biggs stuck in her windshield and parked the car in her garage.
she kept driving, even after the guy was wedged in her winshield?
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