PugeA2
(Lije Jlartlanò (ßbseruer
luly 02. 2003
P olice
Woman Gets 60 Years for Windshield Death DUI Driver Charged
in Bicyclist Deaths
(AP)
A former nurse’s aide
was convicted o f murder Thursday
for hitting a homeless man w ith her
car and driving home with his
mangled body lodged in the w ind­
shield.
Jurors in Tort Worth, Texas de­
liberated less than two hours in the
case o f Chante Jawan Mallard, 27.
The next day, the jury sentenced
her to 60 years in prison.
M allard’s legal team never dis­
puted that she killed tiregory Biggs,
37, in the predawn hours o f Oct. 26,
2001, after a night of drinking, smok­
ing pot and taking Ecstasy.
But they said the death was an
accident - not murder.
Prosecutors said she should pay
the price for taking a m an’s life and
trying to hide it.
T he d e fe n se said it w as
Mallard’s friend, CleteDeneal Jack-
son, who talked her into dumping
Biggs' body and concealing the
crime. Biggs’ mutilated body was
found the next day in a park.
*
Chante Mallard hit a
homeless man with
her car and left him
stuck in the wind­
shield and dying as
she drove home. She
was convicted o f
murder and sen­
tenced to 60 years in
prison by a Texas
jury. (AP Photo)
Prosecutors said Mallard could
have stopped for help at a nearby
fire or police station or all-night
store - or even called her brother,
who is a Tort Worth firefighter with
medical training.
They said M allard, a certified
nursing assistant who had worked
in retirem ent homes, d idn’t check
B ig g s’ pulse or try to stop the
b le e d in g as he g ro an e d and
gasped.
In her statement to police. Mal­
lard said she cried and repeatedly
apologized to Biggs as he moaned
after she lowered her garage door.
She said she was too scared to call
for help.
During the three-day trial. Dr.
N izam Peerwani, the Tarrant County
medical examiner who performed
the autopsy, testified that Biggs
probably lived two hours after be­
ing hit and could have survived
with medical treatment.
Biggs, a bricklayer who had been
living in a Tort Worth homeless
shelter after losing his truck and
home nearly two years earlier, bled
to death and had his lower left leg
nearly am putated by the crash,
Peerwani said.
Biggs’ injuries were aggravated
when Mai lard stopped briefly after
hitting him, trying in vain to smash
out more o f the windshield and
remove his bloody body, and when
she continued her journey home,
Peerwani said.
“ 1 w o u ld say he w as very
hardworking,"said Brandon Biggs,
20. "He was very friendly, although
he didn't have many friends.”
southeast Portland shortly after
midnight. The bicyclists who died
were thrown and dragged by the
van before it stopped, said Sgt.
Brian Schinautz, the Portland po­
lice spokesman.
The dead were identified as
Christopher Satushek, 27, o f Port­
land and Angela L. Leazenby, 26,
who recently moved here from Cali­
fornia.
A third person— Caroline Julia
Buchalter, 23, o f Portland — is ex­
pected to recover from critical inju­
Lindsey Llaneza
ries.
(A P )— A van struck a group o f
Llaneza faces charges ofassault,
four b icy clists on S outheast manslaughter, felony hit and run
Belmont Street last Wednesday, and driving under the influence,
killing two and seriously injuring Schmautzsaid.
a third.
He was arrested for drunken driv­
The van driver, Lindsey Llaneza, ing on March 3 and released with
49, o f Portland faces numerous orders to take part in a diversion
charges after it was determined he program. But court records show
was likely drunk, police said.
Llaneza did not attend the treat­
The van hit the bicyclists in ment as required.
Giant Leap Forward for Gay Rights Bad Lawyer Used in Death Penalty Case
(A P)— The Supreme Court
John Lawrence (left) and
struck down a Texas law ban­
Tryon Garner, are shown
ning gay sex Thursday, rul­
arriving a t the state
ing that the law was an un­
courthouse in Houston to
constitutional violation o f
face charges o f homo­
privacy.
sexual conduct under
The 6-3 ruling reverses
Texas' sodomy law in this
course from a ruling 17 years
file photo. The Supreme
ago that states could punish
Court struck down a ban
homosexuals for what such
on gay sex last week,
laws historically called devi­
ruling that the law was an
ant sex.
unconstitutional violation o f
Laws forbidding hom o­
privacy. (AP Photo)
sexual sex, once universal,
now are rare. Those on the books thony M. Kennedy wrote.
found the two men having sex.
are rarely enforced but underpin
The case began when a neigh­
Ruth Harlow, one o f Lawrence’s
other kinds o f discrimination, law­ bor with a grudge faked a distress lawyers, called the ruling historic.
yers for two Texas men had argued call to police, telling them that a man
“This is a giant leap forward to a
to the court.
was "going crazy" in Lawrence’s day where we are no longer branded
The men “are entitled to respect apartment. Police went to the apart­ as criminals,"
for their private lives,” Justice An­ ment, pushed open the door and
she said.
A Maryland man will receivea
new sentencing hearing after the
U.S. Supreme Court Thursday
ruled 7-2 that the performance o f
his defense counsel did not meet
minimum standards as guaranteed
by the Sixth Amendment o f the
U.S. Constitution.
Kevin Wiggins, a black man, was
convicted and sentenced to death
for the murder o f Florence Lacs, a
white woman. W iggins’ defense
counsel utterly failed to present to
the jury mitigating circumstances
surrounding Wiggins’ background
- details that included horrific abuse
he suffered as a child as well as
possible mental retardation. Abuse
included being beaten with belts and
straps, bitten, denied food, burned
and a history o f sexual molestation.
Critics say Racial Profiling Ban has No Teeth
(AP) — National advocacy
groups for minorities are criticiz­
ing a new federal policy that bans
racial profiling, saying it's not
tough enough to end the practice.
The guidelines, issued by the
Justice Department last month,
prohibit federal law enforcement
o ffic e rs from using race or
ethnicity in routine activities such
as traffic stops. But they allow of­
ficers to consider those factors in
preventing threats to national se­
curity - an exception attacked by
several groups.
“They’ve left open a number o f
loopholes,” said Hussein Ibish, a
spokesman for the American-Arab
Anti-Discrimination Committee.
“This directive has no teeth. It says.
‘Racial profiling, no, no, no.’ It
doesn't actually provide any means
to stop it.”
Justice Department spokesman
Mark Corallo defended the guide­
lines. He said attorneys "studied the
issue very carefully in order to craft
a policy that they think is morally
right, legally right, practically right
and constitutionally sound.”
CRIME STOPPERS
(503) 823-HELP 111S.W. 2nd Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97204
Clues Sought in Beating Death
Portland police and Crime Stoppers
name was “Nathaniel,” the crowd quickly
are asking for your help in locating wit­
dispersed, leaving officers with few ac­
nesses to a fight between two men that
tual witnesses.
resulted in death.
The other man involved is described
On Thursday, May 29 at 11:50 p.m..
as a 28 to 35-year-old black man, 5 feet 10
Central Precinct Officers weredispatched
inches tall and weighing 155 to 165
to a fight on the 1300 block o f West
pounds. At the time, he was wearing a
Burnside. Upon arrival officers found47-
silver jacket, long silver basketball style
year-old Joseph Michael Paulson, un­
shorts, silver baseball style hat and black
conscious on the sidewalk.
tennis shoes with short white socks. He
Paulson was transported by ambu­
left the area with twootherblack males in
lance to a local hospital, where he died
an unknown American made vehicle with
Joseph Paulson
from injuries associated with the alterca­
Oregon plates beginning with VAT.
tion. Paulson had been living in transitional housing
Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward o f up to
in downtown Portland.
$ 1,000 for information, reported to Crime Stoppers,
While the fight drew a crowd, and 9-1-1 received that leads to the resolution o f this case. Call Crime
several calls, including one from someone who said his Stoppers at 503-823-4357.
Roosevelt Added to School Arson Spree
A shes and w hat looked like a gas can were
discovered inside R oosevelt High School in north
Portland M onday after a fire alarm sounded just
after 2 a.m.
A uthorities said it appears the school w as the
target o f an attem pted arson. W hen firefighters
arrived they saw three boys fleeing the school on
bicycles. Police dogs w ere brought in for a search,
but no suspects w ere found.
The fire com es on the heels o f three other school
arson fires in southw est Portland.
F irefighters w ere called to Jackson M iddle
School at about 1:30 a.m. June 22 w here a fire
burned a co u n selo r’s office on the first floor and
sm oke dam aged a second floor classroom .
Tire officials also are looking into a string o f fires
at W ilson High School where arsonists also targeted
a counselor’s office. Gray Middle School was the
scene o f arson two weeks ago, said officials.
O fficials have not said w hether they think the
school fires are related. D am age has totaled about
$200,000.
Crim e Stoppers is offering a $2,000 reward for
information leading to the arrest o f suspects in the
cases. Authorities have also set up added school
patrols.
Teen Wanted for Murder, Kidnapping
Portland Police, in cooperation with
Crim e Stoppers, are asking for your
help in locating and apprehending
17-year-old C arl Richard A lsup HI.
A lsup is w anted for m urder, assault,
kidnapping and coercion.
The charges are in connection
with the m urder o f 22-ycar-old Jes­
sica Kate W illiam s, w hose body was
found May 28, at the east-end o f the
Steel Bridge.
A lsup, w ho goes by the street
I
4
Carl Alsup
nam e “ D .K .,” is a 17-year-old w hite
m ale. A lsup isbetw een 5 ’7” and 5 ’9 ”
tall and w eighs betw een 160 and 170
pounds. W hen last seen he had close-
cropped blonde hair.
C rim e Stoppers is offering a cash
rew ard o f up to $1,000 for inform a­
tion, reported to C rim e Stoppers,
that leads to an arrest in this case.
You need not give your name. Call
C rim e Stoppers at (503) 823-H ELP
(4357).
1