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CNN Live At Daybreak
Windshield Death: Trial Begins
Aired June 23, 2003 - 05:17 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Maybe you remember the case, a Texas woman is accused of hitting a man with her car, driving home and then leaving him to die on her car's windshield. Opening statements in her murder trial begin today.
Dawn Tongish of our affiliate station KDAF has a report for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VADONNA SPRUILL, DEFENDANT'S FRIEND: And she had asked me did I hear about Chante? And I was like hear what? And she was like, well, she murdered a man. They got her for murder. And I was like you have got to be kidding.
DAWN TONGISH, KDAF-TV REPORTER (voice-over): Even close friends of Chante Mallard were shocked a year ago hearing the news that the nurse's aid was accused of running over a homeless man along this stretch of road, then driving home, parking in her garage, leaving him to die in her windshield.
SPRUILL: How could you let a human being beg and plead for their life? That is cruel.
TONGISH: But that's exactly what prosecutors say Mallard was, cruel when she ignored Gregory Biggs' pleas for help. Hitting him may have been an accident, but not helping him, police said at the time, was murder.
LT. DAVID BURGESS, FORT WORTH POLICE: He either bled to death or died from shock. Had he gotten medical attention, there's a good possibility he'd still be here today.
TONGISH: Defense attorney's will try to make the case that Mallard is guilty of failure to render aid, not murder, but they may have a tough sale. Prosecutors have a witness who says Chante joked about hitting a white man. That person told police after Mallard parked in her garage, she had sex with her boyfriend with Biggs still dying in her windshield.
MEREDISH BIGGS, VICTIM'S MOTHER: How much more (UNINTELLIGIBLE) can you do to one human being?
TONGISH: Biggs' family plans to be in court to face Mallard, who they say didn't just take a life, they took someone's son and father.
BIGGS: This was a real person and he was a great person.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And Chante Mallard could face life in prison if she is convicted.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired June 23, 2003 - 05:17 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Maybe you remember the case, a Texas woman is accused of hitting a man with her car, driving home and then leaving him to die on her car's windshield. Opening statements in her murder trial begin today.
Dawn Tongish of our affiliate station KDAF has a report for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VADONNA SPRUILL, DEFENDANT'S FRIEND: And she had asked me did I hear about Chante? And I was like hear what? And she was like, well, she murdered a man. They got her for murder. And I was like you have got to be kidding.
DAWN TONGISH, KDAF-TV REPORTER (voice-over): Even close friends of Chante Mallard were shocked a year ago hearing the news that the nurse's aid was accused of running over a homeless man along this stretch of road, then driving home, parking in her garage, leaving him to die in her windshield.
SPRUILL: How could you let a human being beg and plead for their life? That is cruel.
TONGISH: But that's exactly what prosecutors say Mallard was, cruel when she ignored Gregory Biggs' pleas for help. Hitting him may have been an accident, but not helping him, police said at the time, was murder.
LT. DAVID BURGESS, FORT WORTH POLICE: He either bled to death or died from shock. Had he gotten medical attention, there's a good possibility he'd still be here today.
TONGISH: Defense attorney's will try to make the case that Mallard is guilty of failure to render aid, not murder, but they may have a tough sale. Prosecutors have a witness who says Chante joked about hitting a white man. That person told police after Mallard parked in her garage, she had sex with her boyfriend with Biggs still dying in her windshield.
MEREDISH BIGGS, VICTIM'S MOTHER: How much more (UNINTELLIGIBLE) can you do to one human being?
TONGISH: Biggs' family plans to be in court to face Mallard, who they say didn't just take a life, they took someone's son and father.
BIGGS: This was a real person and he was a great person.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And Chante Mallard could face life in prison if she is convicted.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
