Federal judge suggests DA Reyna has conflict in Twin Peaks cases (Waco)
http://www.wacotrib.com/news/courts_and_trials/federal-judge-suggests-da-reyna-has-conflict-in-twin-peaks/article_27ca5067-14ce-5ddf-a841-372f54c11d83.htmlA federal judge hearing civil rights lawsuits filed against McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna and others by bikers arrested after the Twin Peaks shootout suggested the bikers’ criminal cases can’t proceed until Reyna is replaced because of a conflict of interest.
U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks made several references during a pretrial conference in Austin that seemed to question whether Reyna, as a defendant in the civil cases, has a financial interest at stake and should be disqualified from prosecuting criminal cases against the bikers.
Fifteen bikers arrested along with more than 160 others after the deadly May 17, 2015, brawl at Twin Peaks have filed lawsuits in Sparks’ court claiming they unlawfully were arrested and jailed under $1 million bonds with no justification or evidence of wrongdoing.
Eight of the 15 plaintiffs are not among the 154 bikers who have been indicted on identical engaging in organized criminal activity charges, and three of them contend in their lawsuits that they hadn’t arrived in Waco yet when the shootout occurred.
Besides Reyna, the civil lawsuits name former Waco Police Chief Brent Stroman, Waco Detective Manuel Chavez and an unknown state trooper as defendants.
Sparks scheduled the status conference after attorneys for the defendants filed motions to stay all proceedings in the civil cases until disposition of the criminal cases, to move the cases from Austin to Waco and, subsequently, to dismiss the suits.
Sparks has not ruled on the motions. While the hearing did not pertain to calls for Reyna to disqualify himself, Sparks initiated the discussion by calling the dilemma a “Catch-22” situation.
“That’s the reason I called this little pow-wow,” Sparks said, according to a transcript of the June 3 hearing. “Here, we’ve got lawsuits wherein the chief of police, policemen and the district attorney are sued, which would normally mean that I can’t do anything in this case until the criminal case is over. And I noticed in the paper where they’re seeking to disqualify the district attorney, but that won’t eliminate the problem.
“So the criminal case won’t be able to proceed because the defendants have a personal interest. I can’t proceed because of the criminal case. So if y’all have any novel way of trying to break up this logjam, I’ll be glad to listen to you, but I don’t see anything until the — somebody comes in outside of Waco to prosecute these cases.”
Neither Reyna nor Tom Brandt, the attorney who represented him at the hearing, returned phone calls from the Tribune-Herald seeking comment for this story.
Later, the judge asked the lawyers, “Now, is it the theory that the special prosecutor will take over entirely the prosecution?”
Brandt said he doesn’t think so, explaining to the judge that Reyna is being represented by one of his former assistants, Brandon Luce, at a hearing that begins Monday in Waco’s 54th State District Court in which two bikers are seeking to disqualify Reyna from prosecuting the cases.
Reyna is opposing the motions.
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