Bikers seek Reyna’s disqualification [Waco]
http://www.wacotrib.com/news/courts_and_trials/bikers-seek-reyna-s-disqualification/article_fdc7b839-3d78-58e7-a796-d475457f7287.htmlTwo more motions were filed Monday in an attempt to disqualify McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna from prosecuting the Twin Peaks shootout cases.
Dallas attorney Clint Broden, who represents bikers Matthew Clendennen and Burton George Bergman, alleges in his motions that Reyna “interjected himself and his staff” shortly after the May 17, 2015, shootout and “countermanded the decision by the (Waco police) upper chain of command in an act of political opportunism.”
Because Reyna is being sued in Austin U.S. District Court by 15 bikers, he should be disqualified from further dealings with those cases because he has a financial stake in the outcome of the cases, the motions allege. The motions ask 54th State District Judge Matt Johnson and 19th State District Judge Ralph Strother to appoint another attorney to prosecute the cases. Clendennen’s case is in Johnson’s court, Bergman’s in Strother’s court.
Reyna did not return phone messages Monday.
“In pursuing my clients’ prosecution, it is clear that Mr. Reyna is being influenced by his own personal, financial interests, and that these interests compromise the performance of his public duty,” Broden said. “Only a true independent prosecutor will be in a position to truly act in the public’s interest and to seek justice. My clients and the citizens of McLennan County deserve a truly independent prosecutor on this case.”
Houston attorney Abigail Anastasio, who represents biker Ray Nelson, filed a similar motion in March, alleging Reyna and two of his top assistants, Michael Jarrett and Mark Parker, should be disqualified because they could be potential witnesses in the case.
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