# Windshield Lady Goes on Trial! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 23, 2003, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windshield-lady-goes-on-trial/183780 "2003-06-23T15:37:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Optihut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/edb3f5/32.png) [@Optihut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Optihut)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windshield-lady-goes-on-trial/183780/41 "2003-06-25T14:09:10Z")
> [@](#): > > I wish they would fry this ignorant bitch. > [@](#): > > This is why I couldn’t be a defense attorney. I may try, but I’d probably just stand up in the middle of court and say “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, Your Honor, please give this bitch the chair.” With suggestions like this, I don’t think it’s any wonder the woman didn’t provide help or go the police. If I accidently hit someone with a car and almost killed them in the process, I’d probably help and face the consequences. However, with many people around offering “KILL KILL” as the end all solution for everything, I can also understand why the women tried to cover it up ☹ She needs to do prison time and everyone else needs the awareness that always shouting for more death and executions is pushing people right off the edge, making matters worse and not better. ---
**Author:** ![Optihut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/edb3f5/32.png) [@Optihut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Optihut)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windshield-lady-goes-on-trial/183780/42 "2003-06-25T14:13:50Z")
Typo galore… Damnation! Remind me to proof read before hitting submit ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windshield-lady-goes-on-trial/183780/43 "2003-06-25T14:16:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Optihut \* > \*\*With suggestions like this, I don’t think it’s any wonder the woman didn’t provide help or go the police. If I accidently hit someone with a car and almost killed them in the process, I’d probably help and face the consequences. However, with many people around offering “KILL KILL” as the end all solution for everything, I can also understand why the women tried to cover it up ☹ > > She needs to do prison time and everyone else needs the awareness that always shouting for more death and executions is pushing people right off the edge, making matters worse and not better. \*\* Uh, no, that’s the whole _point_. If she’d stopped and gotten help for the guy, no one would be calling for harsh penalties. It’s the fact she didn’t that makes it a crime, not the fact of the accident itself. ---
**Author:** ![Optihut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/edb3f5/32.png) [@Optihut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Optihut)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windshield-lady-goes-on-trial/183780/44 "2003-06-25T14:29:10Z")
> [@](#): > > Uh, no, that’s the whole point. If she’d stopped and gotten help for the guy, no one would be calling for harsh penalties. It’s the fact she didn’t that makes it a crime, not the fact of the accident itself. The way it has happened now, I agree with you. But if she _had_ stopped and _had_ helped, the news would be like this “woman drinks and drives, hits man, who is lodged in her windshield and the man dies on the way to the hospital.” It’s something people would be rightfully upset about as well and since there are always outraged shouts for a death penalty, I can see why people would hesitate and think twice about going to the police. Then again, maybe I am just very touchy about the capital punishment in general 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windshield-lady-goes-on-trial/183780/45 "2003-06-25T14:45:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Optihut \* > **The way it has happened now, I agree with you. But if she _had_ stopped and _had_ helped, the news would be like this "woman drinks and drives, hits man, who is lodged in her windshield and the man dies on the way to the hospital."** _ahem_ > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eve \* > \*\*He could have survived if he had received medical attention, Peerwani has said. \*\* That’s Nizam Peerwani, the County Medical Examiner there. ---
**Author:** ![Optihut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/edb3f5/32.png) [@Optihut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Optihut)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windshield-lady-goes-on-trial/183780/46 "2003-06-25T14:53:56Z")
He **could** have survived, but what if he still hadn’t? Besides, if someone’s head is sticking through my window, his legs are bent over my car and the guy is bleeding, I wouldn’t really count on him surviving. For my decision it doesn’t matter if a medical examiner would come to a different conclusion after a careful examination. I’d be in panic and would need to reach a quick decision. There simply are no guarantees and the guy may still have died, even if she had gotten help. I am leaning myself wide out of the window here, but I am convinced that in _that_ case some people would still have demanded a death penalty. This is totally imho, but I think this mentality causes some people to act extremly stupid in life and death situations, just like this woman’s actions were stupid and cannot be excused. My point: I want her to do time in prison _and_ I want to have people chanting for years / decades of prison instead of electrical chairs. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windshield-lady-goes-on-trial/183780/47 "2003-06-25T15:19:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Optihut \* > **There simply are no guarantees and the guy may still have died, even if she had gotten help.** No, no guarantees, though he probably would have been better off instead of bleeding to death in the car. I think this whole mess is a good indicator as to why the driver is a _former_ nurse’s aide. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windshield-lady-goes-on-trial/183780/48 "2003-06-25T15:23:19Z")
She kept taking her work home with her. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windshield-lady-goes-on-trial/183780/49 "2003-06-25T15:32:17Z")
I remember the original reports of this incident and the part that amazed me was she had a friend come over and help her move the body after the man died. I was thinking if she had someone she trusted enough to help her get rid of a corpse, couldn’t she have called him a few days earlier when the victim was still alive? ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windshield-lady-goes-on-trial/183780/50 "2003-06-25T16:03:45Z")
There were reports that she wasn’t just drunk at the time of the accident. I recall her lawyer coming out and saying that she wasn’t responsible for her actions because she was on Ecstasy at the time. I’ve done E once or twice (ahem), and I can’t imagine being so out of it on it that I don’t realize that someone is bleeding to death. ---
**Author:** ![cybersnark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9e5f3/32.png) [@cybersnark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cybersnark)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windshield-lady-goes-on-trial/183780/51 "2003-06-25T16:07:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lissa \* > \*\*Miranda, after hearing the confession, sobbingly called her mother later that night and told her what she had heard. The mother convinced Miranda to call the police, which she did. It was pointed out in court today that none of the defendents friends speak with Miranda any more. > \*\* :mad: OK, this weirds me out almost as much as the original crime. One woman (Miranda) had the fortitude to stand up and say that Mallard’s actions were wrong, and took it to the authorities. Now Miranda is a pariah to her friends. As reprehensible as the original crime was, that is still just a single woman who is somewhere between (take your pick) misguided and evil. However, it appears that her friends pretty much take her side! Let’s just say I’m not planning on visiting Texas for a long, long time. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windshield-lady-goes-on-trial/183780/52 "2003-06-25T16:20:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eve \* > \*\*She kept taking her work home with her. \*\* ::rimshot:: ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windshield-lady-goes-on-trial/183780/53 "2003-06-25T16:25:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Optihut \* > \*\*He **could** have survived, but what if he still hadn’t? \*\* Well, for one thing, she wouldn’t be charged with murder. It would have been at the most intoxication manslaughter, and maybe not even that if it could be shown that he was stumbling around in the street and would have been hit by even a sober and careful driver. At any rate, intoxication manslaughter is a second degree felony, punishable by 2 to 20 years. Instead she kidnapped him and prevented him from any hope of medical care, and saddled herself with a murder charge instead, 5 to life. Ironically, she’d have been better off if she’d killed him outright, or he’d bounced off. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windshield-lady-goes-on-trial/183780/54 "2003-06-25T16:27:19Z")
AP “FORT WORTH, Texas — Clete Jackson (search) didn’t know what to expect when he walked into the garage of his former lover, who was sobbing. He saw a man’s mangled body almost completely inside her car — head on the floorboard, torso in the air and a severed leg on the center console…” The accomplice speaks today. Saw AP article on [www.FOXNews.com](http://www.FOXNews.com) Unbelievable. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windshield-lady-goes-on-trial/183780/55 "2003-06-25T16:46:04Z")
[Direct link to Clete Jackson story](http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,90359,00.html) > [@](#): > > “You don’t hit nobody on purpose that you don’t know,” said Jackson. Okaaay… ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windshield-lady-goes-on-trial/183780/56 "2003-06-25T16:57:27Z")
So, according to Jackson, it is okay to hit someone on purpose that you **do** know. So how come Chante’s friends aren’t driving around Texas with her as a hood ornament? ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windshield-lady-goes-on-trial/183780/57 "2003-06-25T17:22:49Z")
Well, in fairness to Jackson, he was trying to explain why it was an accident. What he meant was that it wouldn’t make sense for Chante to intentionally hit somebody she had never met with her car for no reason at all. Not that it matters. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windshield-lady-goes-on-trial/183780/58 "2003-06-25T19:07:28Z")
Well…the lawyers are leading the witnesses to demonstrate that she didn’t murder this guy. She didn’t know him, she didn’t murder him, it was an accident. She just failed to provide aid, which is legally much less of a crime. It’s legal stuff, but does not reflect my opinions of the worthless bitch. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windshield-lady-goes-on-trial/183780/59 "2003-06-25T19:37:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pravnik \* > **Well, in fairness to Jackson, he was trying to explain why it was an accident. What he meant was that it wouldn’t make sense for Chante to intentionally hit somebody she had never met with her car for no reason at all.** Sure, that must be what he intended but the way it came out illustrates these people as not the brightest citizens of the Lone Star State. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windshield-lady-goes-on-trial/183780/60 "2003-06-26T16:54:53Z")
[Guilty of murder](http://www.wtopnews.com/?sid=4109&nid=104)! Jurors reportedly deliberated for less than an hour. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windshield-lady-goes-on-trial/183780.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windshield-lady-goes-on-trial/183780.md?page=4)