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CNN Live Today
Sentencing to Continue in Windshield Murder Trial
Aired June 27, 2003 - 10:03 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, ANCHOR: Also this hour, jurors return to work in Fort Worth, Texas, to decide punishment for Chante Mallard.
The same jurors took less than an hour to convict her of murder for allowing a pedestrian she had hit to die while still lodged in her windshield. Jurors are expected to decide Mallard's punishment today.
CNN's Ed Lavandera has been covering the trial. He joins us now outside of the courthouse.
Ed, she could face life in prison?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Heidi.
It's a wide range of punishment, actually, anywhere between five years and 99 years or life in prison. There's also an outside chance of probation, because she's -- it's the first time she's been convicted of a felony. That's the way the law works here in Texas.
But she told the jurors yesterday that she deserves to be punished and go to prison.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHANTE MALLARD, CONVICTED OF KILLING PEDESTRIAN: As I was going around the curve, I hit Mr. Biggs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. And when you hit Mr. Biggs, did you see him before you hit him that you remember?
MALLARD: No, sir, I did not.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): From that moment on October 26, 2001, Chante Mallard's life would never be the same. On the witness stand, she told the story of how a night of drinking and doing the drugs ended in the death of a 37-year-old homeless man.
Mallard took the stand just hours after a Fort Worth jury found her guilty of murder. An attempt to explain why she didn't call for help after driving into Greg Biggs.
MALLARD: I was scared. And I didn't know what to do. And I was asking God to tell me what to do. I didn't know what to do.
LAVANDERA: Not knowing what to do, that was the consistent theme through Mallard's testimony. She talked about how drugs had been destroying her life and clouded her ability to make good decisions night she killed Greg Biggs.
Prosecutors attacked the excuse.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You made a decision to get in the car and drive, right?
MALLARD: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You made a decision to take the Ecstasy?
MALLARD: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You made a decision, the decisions involved in driving that got you to the point where you hit Gregory Biggs?
MALLARD: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And after hitting him, your ability to decide was gone?
LAVANDERA: Biggs' son, Brandon, was in the courtroom listening to Mallard describe how his father was killed.
MALLARD: And 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 that I have put my family through.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA: Before Chante Mallard took the witness stand yesterday, there were about a dozen family and friends that also testified on her behalf.
Defense attorneys asked them whether or not they would be there when Chante Mallard got out of prison to help her get back into society and restructure her life. They all said yes and it's clear that this family is preparing itself for Chante Mallard to be sent away to prison -- Heidi.
COLLINS: So Ed, what are we expecting in the proceedings, then, today?
LAVANDERA: Well, what will happen this morning, inside the courtroom, people are starting to gather. The families are going in and people have been observing the trial.
Defense attorneys still have the option to call a few more witnesses, perhaps. They haven't wrapped up their punishment testimony as of yet. Then both sides, prosecution and defense, will put on their closing arguments before the jury. And the jury will then be sequestered and they will determine how long, what kind of punishment Chante Mallard will get for this.
COLLINS: All right. Very good. We will wait for the very latest on that, of course. And for the latest on this story or the day's other top news, visit our continually updated website. That address is CNN.com. The AOL keyword is CNN.
Thanks to Ed Lavandera for that report.
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 27, 2003 - 10:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, ANCHOR: Also this hour, jurors return to work in Fort Worth, Texas, to decide punishment for Chante Mallard.
The same jurors took less than an hour to convict her of murder for allowing a pedestrian she had hit to die while still lodged in her windshield. Jurors are expected to decide Mallard's punishment today.
CNN's Ed Lavandera has been covering the trial. He joins us now outside of the courthouse.
Ed, she could face life in prison?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Heidi.
It's a wide range of punishment, actually, anywhere between five years and 99 years or life in prison. There's also an outside chance of probation, because she's -- it's the first time she's been convicted of a felony. That's the way the law works here in Texas.
But she told the jurors yesterday that she deserves to be punished and go to prison.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHANTE MALLARD, CONVICTED OF KILLING PEDESTRIAN: As I was going around the curve, I hit Mr. Biggs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. And when you hit Mr. Biggs, did you see him before you hit him that you remember?
MALLARD: No, sir, I did not.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): From that moment on October 26, 2001, Chante Mallard's life would never be the same. On the witness stand, she told the story of how a night of drinking and doing the drugs ended in the death of a 37-year-old homeless man.
Mallard took the stand just hours after a Fort Worth jury found her guilty of murder. An attempt to explain why she didn't call for help after driving into Greg Biggs.
MALLARD: I was scared. And I didn't know what to do. And I was asking God to tell me what to do. I didn't know what to do.
LAVANDERA: Not knowing what to do, that was the consistent theme through Mallard's testimony. She talked about how drugs had been destroying her life and clouded her ability to make good decisions night she killed Greg Biggs.
Prosecutors attacked the excuse.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You made a decision to get in the car and drive, right?
MALLARD: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You made a decision to take the Ecstasy?
MALLARD: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You made a decision, the decisions involved in driving that got you to the point where you hit Gregory Biggs?
MALLARD: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And after hitting him, your ability to decide was gone?
LAVANDERA: Biggs' son, Brandon, was in the courtroom listening to Mallard describe how his father was killed.
MALLARD: And 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 that I have put my family through.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA: Before Chante Mallard took the witness stand yesterday, there were about a dozen family and friends that also testified on her behalf.
Defense attorneys asked them whether or not they would be there when Chante Mallard got out of prison to help her get back into society and restructure her life. They all said yes and it's clear that this family is preparing itself for Chante Mallard to be sent away to prison -- Heidi.
COLLINS: So Ed, what are we expecting in the proceedings, then, today?
LAVANDERA: Well, what will happen this morning, inside the courtroom, people are starting to gather. The families are going in and people have been observing the trial.
Defense attorneys still have the option to call a few more witnesses, perhaps. They haven't wrapped up their punishment testimony as of yet. Then both sides, prosecution and defense, will put on their closing arguments before the jury. And the jury will then be sequestered and they will determine how long, what kind of punishment Chante Mallard will get for this.
COLLINS: All right. Very good. We will wait for the very latest on that, of course. And for the latest on this story or the day's other top news, visit our continually updated website. That address is CNN.com. The AOL keyword is CNN.
Thanks to Ed Lavandera for that report.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
