The Briefing Room
State Chapters => Texas => Topic started by: Elderberry on June 07, 2018, 10:37:06 pm
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The Aging Rebel June 7, 2018
A couple of Houston lawyers named Paul Looney and Mark Thiessen filed an interesting motion Monday. It is based on a legal technicality and it has the potential to set most of the remaining Twin Peaks defendants free and clear.
It is not going to accomplish that, of course.
Previously in the Twin Peaks cases, defendants were arrested on the basis of flagrantly perjurious and photocopied arrest affidavits, denied a reasonable bail or presumption of innocence and indicted on an assembly line.
The motion was filed in Judge Matt Johnson’s 54th District Court. Johnson is District Attorney Abelino Reyna’s former law partner and for the last three years he has demonstrated absolutely no concern about the legal niceties of the case. Johnson lives in Waco. He has a nice, easy hustle going. He works in a nice courthouse. He does what he needs to do. He doesn’t need to grant this motion.
No Superseding Indictments
But the technicality is interesting. It was filed on behalf of a Bandido named Marcus Pilkington who was wounded during the Twin Peaks ambush and was the last defendant to be granted bail. All of the current defendants in the case have been indicted twice, first in 2016 and then again this year. The technicality is hidden there.
Looney and Thiesson credit a scholarly Waco attorney named Robert Callahan for finding the loophole. Looney said in a press release Monday that he is “of the opinion that the second indictment was unlawfully obtained and cannot now be lawfully obtained. Just when it was beginning to look like the McLennan County District Attorneys office had discarded the ‘Book of Waco’ and chosen to follow the Code of Criminal Procedure, we found that they are still making their own rules and have now made an inexcusable blunder.â€
The blunder is that Texas, as opposed to the federal courts, does not allow superseding indictments.
Wonderfully Argued
“A felony case in Texas must proceed by indictment,†the Houston lawyers complain to Johnson, “but cannot proceed by TWO indictments. Yet that is what the State has apparently attempted to do herein, although it is not entirely clear whether the State intends the new indictment to supplant or to merely supplement the prior indictment, which has not formally been dismissed. The State issued a new indictment carrying the same cause number as the original indictment in this case, yet charging a different offense. An indictment cannot be ‘supplemented’ or superseded by way of a new indictment. There is nothing in statute, rule or law that allows the State to do what they have attempted to do herein. New charges require a new indictment, proceeding under a new cause number. Once a case has been initiated by indictment, the indictment can be amended. but such amendments can only be made pursuant to Tex.Code Crim.Proc. Arts. 28.10 and 28.11. These procedures were wholly ignored by the State, and therefore the indictment issued on May 9, 2018 in this case is improper as a matter of law and must be quashed and dismissed.â€
More: http://www.agingrebel.com/16652 (http://www.agingrebel.com/16652)
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It's either awful busy at the link, or something hinky is going on. Can't get the page to load.
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Loads for me fine.
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Loads for me fine.
Firefox would flash the page and go blank. I got it to load in IE. Strange.
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New Indictments “Under Advisement†– Twin Peaks
July 27, 2018 Radiolegendary
http://radiolegendary.com/2018/07/new-indictments-under-advisement-twin-peaks/ (http://radiolegendary.com/2018/07/new-indictments-under-advisement-twin-peaks/)
Waco – 54th Criminal District Judge Matt Johnson sounded curious when he had heard the arguments from the State and Defense counsel regarding re-indicting felony offenses under the same cause number.
“When I was an Assistant District Attorney,†the Judge said, “any time you got a new indictment, you got a new cause number.â€
That’s the letter of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, and it’s there to prevent any possibility of a defendant having to answer a charge in double jeopardy – a violation of civil rights.
Prosecutors explained the policy in use in the McLennan District Attorney’s Office was instituted by former First Assistant DA Greg Davis, with the assent of the District Clerk.
According to a prosecutor in the case against Marcus Pilkington, who was originally indicted for engaging in organized criminal activity at Twin Peaks Restaurant on May 17, 2015, then re-indicted for “rioting†in a subsequent presentation to the Grand Jury, the policy is a “matter of convenience.â€
The Grand Jurors “do not pass on the caption,†said the prosecutor. “The Grand Jury passes on the body of the indictment.â€
Under the present system, the same bond applies, the case is merely updated as to the offense.
It is the argument of Pilkington’s lawyers that it isn’t a proper way to do business when it comes to criminal charges.
“It sounds like they’re trying to superimpose something we use in civil procedure†to amend a petition as to its allegation of complaint, said Paul Looney, lead defense counsel in the Pilkington case.
“That gives rise to rights that are in the Code of Criminal Procedure…There is no authority for doing it this way, and it completely bypasses a defendant’s right to participate (in his own defense).â€
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It sure seems to me that they are doing everything they can to try to legitimize the activities of LEOs at that restaurant and the massacre that entailed, not to mention the subsequent miscarriage of justice. In addition to lives, jobs, and businesses lost, those who have yet to be found guilty of anything still face a protracted legal battle. Stretching things out only hurts the innocent, and does not address the questionable actions of the courts or the LEOs.
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Stretching things out only hurts the innocent, and does not address the questionable actions of the courts or the LEOs.
You sure hit the nail on the head. After three years there has only been one trial, a mistrial, and the next two trials are not scheduled to start until next year.
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You sure hit the nail on the head. After three years there has only been one trial, a mistrial, and the next two trials are not scheduled to start until next year.
By which time, people, their bank accounts, their memories are exhausted. It is the State's way of punishing those someone thinks should be punished, whether they are ever found guilty, while the perpetrators of this (additional) miscarriage of justice hide behind sovereign immunity as officials. The lives of the innocent (not to mention the deceased) continue to be violated under color of law. Considering Swanton received an award/commendation for his work with the Feds 'in the wake of' the Branch Davidian Massacre, there appears there may be a continuity of attitude toward law enforcement operations in that area which defies Due Process and takes on an air of Star Chamber 'justice', regardless of the true nature of the accused or their actions.
An unanswered question is How many "Confidential informants" were at the meeting, and did they instigate hostilities? Who fired the first shot? How many did the police/LEOs kill, and were the remainder killed/injured as perceived retaliation or self-defense in the fog of battle thinking it was just between the two major clubs present?
Those just go on the heap of other unanswered questions I have about the incident.
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https://www.kcentv.com/article/news/local/shooting-at-twin-peaks/motion-to-drop-riot-charge-against-twin-peaks-biker-delayed/500-578003462 (https://www.kcentv.com/article/news/local/shooting-at-twin-peaks/motion-to-drop-riot-charge-against-twin-peaks-biker-delayed/500-578003462)
Motion to drop riot charge against Twin Peaks biker delayed
54th District Judge Matt Johnson chose not to make a decision Friday on whether to drop a Riot charge against one of the bikers involved in the Twin Peaks shootout.
Author: Jim Hice
Published: 11:35 AM CDT July 27, 2018
Updated: 11:40 AM CDT July 27, 2018
Johnson chose to table the motion and make a decision in three weeks.
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https://www.kcentv.com/article/news/local/shooting-at-twin-peaks/motion-to-drop-riot-charge-against-twin-peaks-biker-delayed/500-578003462 (https://www.kcentv.com/article/news/local/shooting-at-twin-peaks/motion-to-drop-riot-charge-against-twin-peaks-biker-delayed/500-578003462)
Motion to drop riot charge against Twin Peaks biker delayed
54th District Judge Matt Johnson chose not to make a decision Friday on whether to drop a Riot charge against one of the bikers involved in the Twin Peaks shootout.
Author: Jim Hice
Published: 11:35 AM CDT July 27, 2018
Updated: 11:40 AM CDT July 27, 2018
Johnson chose to table the motion and make a decision in three weeks.
**nononono*
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It sure seems to me that they are doing everything they can to try to legitimize the activities of LEOs at that restaurant and the massacre that entailed, not to mention the subsequent miscarriage of justice. In addition to lives, jobs, and businesses lost, those who have yet to be found guilty of anything still face a protracted legal battle. Stretching things out only hurts the innocent, and does not address the questionable actions of the courts or the LEOs.
Like the current FBI coverups going on at the federal level, law enforcement in the Waco area are covering tracks of misdeeds and lawlessness due to either arrogance or incompetency or both. And doing it by taking liberties from citizens who deserve a lot better treatment.
We citizens must demand the truth and punishment of those culpable of any crimes against citizens in both cases. The alternative would be a terrible blow to our freedoms.
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By which time, people, their bank accounts, their memories are exhausted. It is the State's way of punishing those someone thinks should be punished, whether they are ever found guilty, while the perpetrators of this (additional) miscarriage of justice hide behind sovereign immunity as officials. The lives of the innocent (not to mention the deceased) continue to be violated under color of law. Considering Swanton received an award/commendation for his work with the Feds 'in the wake of' the Branch Davidian Massacre, there appears there may be a continuity of attitude toward law enforcement operations in that area which defies Due Process and takes on an air of Star Chamber 'justice', regardless of the true nature of the accused or their actions.
I have made the point I highlighted many times in discussions on TBR (in different legal matters): The process is the punishment, by design of Prosecutors who have infinite resources. I was then told by various legal eagles that I was FOS and didn't know WTF I was talking about, and to STFU. The nicer ones simply ignore my comments.
Apparently the practice is considered "ethical," which is why the crony Johnson is likely to deny the motion.
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Like the current FBI coverups going on at the federal level, law enforcement in the Waco area are covering tracks of misdeeds and lawlessness due to either arrogance or incompetency or both. And doing it by taking liberties from citizens who deserve a lot better treatment.
We citizens must demand the truth and punishment of those culpable of any crimes against citizens in both cases. The alternative would be a terrible blow to our freedoms.
IIRC, there were Feds there, too.
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Brazos Whale Dance Day 1171
July 30, 2018 The Aging Rebel
Sometimes the Waco Twin Peaks Mass Murder and the simultaneous state and federal investigation of the Bandidos Motorcycle Club are chained together like prisoners on a work gang and sometimes they are not. Whether they are or not is entirely a function of whether one prosecutor or another thinks the connection will help him secure a conviction.
None of these games prosecutors have been playing for the last three years are intended to lead to truth or justice.
It is inarguable that local, state and federal officials at least anticipated the bloody biker brawl on May 17, 2015 and prepared for it by making popcorn. That’s why the cameras were there, stupid.
Operation SOA
A “multi-agency task force†was a couple of years and some millions of dollars into a mostly fruitless investigation of the Bandidos. These things always start with some idiot of a United States Attorney watching Sons of Anarchy. After a couple of years of the Bandits not actually being the Sons of Anarchy the “task force†got a chance to video record a real Laughlin Riot, or Sparks Riot or Hollister Riot.
To call the scheme half-assed is to mock the men who died that day. But the cover up that followed and continues to this day more and more resembles the look on Don Junior’s face. The local prosecutor, Abel Reyna – who coincidentally was under investigation by the FBI at the time of the riot – was tasked with with preserving a protecting a narrative that had already been written. The Bandidos, who had been ambushed by Cossacks Motorcycle Club members, were stubbornly portrayed as the instigators of the brawl. Everybody said that. The Washington Post said that.
Eventually, more than six months after the Twin Peaks, the whole point of the video cameras, a federal indictment of the four Bandidos, was unsealed and they were charged, basically, with instigating the biker brawl. That was so ridiculous that eventually the top two Bandidos, Jeff Pike and John Portillo, wound up with being charged with entirely different but equally ridiculous crimes.
Uno, Dos, Tres, Cuatro
The salsa dance between the federal and local cases has been jaw dropping – as if whales appeared in the Brazos, then stumbled ashore and began dancing.
The trials of the defendants in Waco had to be delayed for years while federal prosecutors invented something other than Waco with which to charge Pike and Portillo. Because, you know, the Twin Peaks is radioactive.
In March 2017, a couple of years after the Twin Peaks, Reyna tried to stall his prosecutions by declaring that: “On March 28, 2017, the McLennan County Criminal District Attorney’s Office received a letter from the United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas, Richard L. Durbin, Jr. This letter provides the broad outlines of an investigation into the Bandidos Outlaw Motorcycle Club, United States v. John Portillo, et al., Cause No. SA-15-CR-820 (see attached). In the letter, Mr. Durbin declines to share any information or evidence relating to that investigation at this time. Mr. Durbin has indicated that the information will be disclosed to the McLennan County Criminal District Attorney’s Office once the trial is complete.
More: http://www.agingrebel.com/16832 (http://www.agingrebel.com/16832)
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Liberals aren't the only ones who double down when they get it wrong, it's just that they are so smug, sanctimonious, and convinced they are right, damn the facts, that liberals are the ones who pull this sort of crap most often.
This isn't the first time, (it has happened elsewhere) and likely won't be the last, and Waco gets to put another notch in its gun.
You'd think they'd be happy to NOT have had a problem, rather than create one.
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Liberals aren't the only ones who double down when they get it wrong, it's just that they are so smug, sanctimonious, and convinced they are right, damn the facts, that liberals are the ones who pull this sort of crap most often.
This isn't the first time, (it has happened elsewhere) and likely won't be the last, and Waco gets to put another notch in its gun.
You'd think they'd be happy to NOT have had a problem, rather than create one.
Prosecutors gotta eat too. They aren't just going to hire themselves....
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Prosecutors gotta eat too. They aren't just going to hire themselves....
It looks like they've bitten off more than they can chew. They'll be chewing on all the civil suits they are facing for a long, long, time.
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It looks like they've bitten off more than they can chew. They'll be chewing on all the civil suits they are facing for a long, long, time.
The taxpayers are going to be paying those judgements, not the Prosecutors. It's no skin off their nose.
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The taxpayers are going to be paying those judgements, not the Prosecutors. It's no skin off their nose.
And THAT is a large part of the problem IMHO!
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@Smokin Joe
Check this site out. https://www.looneyconrad.com/media-waco-bikers-melee.html#sthash.zFOAMGU8.YsvBv1p1.dpbs (https://www.looneyconrad.com/media-waco-bikers-melee.html#sthash.zFOAMGU8.YsvBv1p1.dpbs)
It has the best collection of Waco-Twin Peaks article links I've come across.
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And that site still only has a short list.
Here's one I haven't come across.
http://www.kwtx.com/content/news/Wording-of-Twin-Peaks-dismissal-motion-may-increase-civil-liability--481647821.html (http://www.kwtx.com/content/news/Wording-of-Twin-Peaks-dismissal-motion-may-increase-civil-liability--481647821.html)
The announcement that a special prosecutor is seeking formal dismissal of a Twin Peaks biker case for lack of probable cause may expose District Attorney Abel Reyna and McLennan County to additional civil liability.
On Monday Brian Roberts, the attorney appointed to prosecute Hewitt resident Matthew Alan Clendennen after Reyna withdrew from the case, filed a dismissal motion in which he said, “After reviewing all the facts, circumstances and evidence, it is the state’s position that no probable cause exists to believe the defendant committed the offense.â€
The wording caught the attention of attorneys for others arrested after the May 17, 2015 shootout that left nine bikers dead and 20 more injured.
“I had several of my clients ask me (Wednesday) if (the district attorney) putting that language in the dismissal would have any effect on their cases, and the answer is yes,†Dallas attorney Don Tittle said in a telephone interview.
Tittle said to date there are more than 130 federal civil lawsuits filed naming Reyna, and others, and he is handling about 115 of them.
“The state can put anything they want to in a dismissal, even the moon is made of green cheese, and none of it has to be true,†Tittle said.
But the fact that Monday’s dismissal includes both the language about the lack of probable cause and the fact that the dismissal is sought “with prejudice†is significant.
“With prejudice†means the case cannot be refiled and the defendant cannot be re-charged, Tittle said.
“I think it is very relevant and this can have a significant impact in (the Clendennen) case and maybe in others.â€
In early February, 21 Twin Peaks cases were dismissed, but motions filed seeking those dismissals did not include the statements about probable cause or prejudice.
“These dismissals should not be considered an exoneration of the individual defendants or the gangs they belong to,†Reyna said in a statement released at the time.
For those defendants there is no guarantee of expunction, it certainly is not automatic and, according to Reyna’s statement, those individuals remain under suspicion.
“Those dismissals were specifically designed to prevent our clients from being able to automatically expunge their cases,†a local criminal defense attorney who represented one of the bikers indicted but whose case was dismissed this spring, said.
“In a case where a dismissal is based on lack of probable cause, those defendants are entitled to immediate expunction,†the lawyer, who asked she not be identified, said.
But Austin attorney Millie L. Thompson says those defendants with early dismissals may not get their records cleared at all.
Thompson, who represents one of the defendants in a federal civil rights law suit that names Reyna, said because of the way the first dismissals were presented, those cases now are closed and there is no case to file an expunction hearing on so the record will not change.
“Those defendants (the one with early dismissals) will have that record for the rest of their lives,†she said.
She said when the dismissals happened the defense bar was “blindsided, we had no idea that was coming and we had no chance to prepare,†Thompson said.
KWTX obtained a copy of one of the dismissals finalized Feb. 8 which reads: “While probable cause for the defendant’s arrest and prosecution remains, the state is exercising its prosecutorial discretion in dismissing this matter in order to focus its efforts and resources on co-defendants with a higher level of culpability.â€
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@Elderberry Thanks for the link! They will never admit they were wrong, which is why the entire operation went ahead. Expunging the records would be just such an admission.
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No Justice In Waco Texas -by Texas Bellend. Please contact Chris Cox with Bikers for Trump.
https://harleyliberty.com/2018/08/01/no-justice-in-waco-texas-by-texas-bellend-please-contact-chris-cox-with-bikers-for-trump/ (https://harleyliberty.com/2018/08/01/no-justice-in-waco-texas-by-texas-bellend-please-contact-chris-cox-with-bikers-for-trump/)
By Insane Throttle August 1, 2018
April 2, 2018 Attorney Don Tittle and Able Reyna were present in Austin for a hearing to lift the stays on the Civil Cases to proceed against the unlawful arrests of the bikers that cases were dismissed. Judge Sparks appeared to be in the Defense favor and then in a very odd and rehearsed way the Judge decided to put a 90 day stay on the Civil cases. Why? Well, the Federal Prosecutors in the Pike and Portillo trial in San Antonio have “wiretapped conversations†that would be applicable to the Twin Peaks Biker Civil cases somehow. As of now, past 90 days later people are asking when the stay should be lifted because July 2nd was the day. THE JUDGE SAT ON THE ORDERS FOR 2 WEEKS BEFORE SIGNING THE 90 DAY STAY so no one really knows. Attorney Don Tittles has the same attitude as all of the others in his profession…. We don’t know because Waco seems to do whatever they want. So, all the Attorneys can do is file some motions and wait. Same shit different day!
As of July 13th, Judge Sparks ordered an additional 60 day stay on the Civil Cases. What is concerning here is that neither prosecution nor defense asked for the stay.
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Saw an interview with Jeesse Ventura, ex-Gov. of Minn, and former officer with a Lost Angeles biker club, Mongols.
Mongols mostly Hispanic, from an era when the Hells Angels didn't admit Hispanics.
Ventura, Navy UDT, Sgt. at Arms, Mongols.
Reform Party. Green Party.
He lives part time in Mexico.
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Hollow Twin Peaks Cases Could End, Not With A Bang But A Whimper
Radio Legendary 8/4/2018 http://radiolegendary.com/2018/08/hollow-twin-peaks-cases-could-end-not-with-a-bang-but-a-whimper/ (http://radiolegendary.com/2018/08/hollow-twin-peaks-cases-could-end-not-with-a-bang-but-a-whimper/)
BOOK OF WACO – BY CHAPTER, VERSE, NUMBERS AND ACTS
Belleville – Leaden rain clouds faked a threat to douse sun-drenched blades of coastal salt grass as a lazy Saturday world rolled by the front porch of Newman’s Bakery.
Harleys in heat, customized pickups, volunteer fire trucks sporting Glass Packs, and flatulent diesels roared their way up the hill to make the obligatory two-lane blacktop circuit of the Courthouse Square while trial lawyer Paul Looney held his weekly free legal clinic.
Situated on a trident fork on the way to everywhere at the corner of State Highways 36, 159 and FM 529, three of Austin County’s principal thoroughfares, Newman’s is a weekend Mecca for folks luxuriating in the extravagant feeling of not being in a hurry in this picture perfect world so near and yet so far from the nerve shattering hustle of the Domed City.
Looney is in the big middle of a phenomenal winning streak in criminal jury trials.
But he doesn’t take all the credit for his successful trial practice.
The phenomenon of jury nullification has reared its unpredictable head – at least once – in his unbroken string of dozens of victories.
“We had a case we just couldn’t handle any way but to give it to a jury,†he recalled, “because the plea offer was so unacceptable.â€
After hours of deliberation, the jury sent the Judge a note, asking if they convicted the defendant, could they be assured he would assess the minimum legal penalty in his sentence.
“The Judge sent them a message. He told them they were the finders of fact, that he was the one to pass sentence, and their job was either to acquit or convict…
“So, in about 15 minutes, they sent a verdict of acquittal.â€
With nearly 450,000 miles on his Victory Motorcycle, Looney is a specialist in letting the jurors decide – or at least, giving the State a good, long look at the prospects of the notoriously unpredictable actions of twelve veniremen, good and true.
To see the world from two wheels, a lot of truth goes by – in a hurry.
But the Twin Peaks cases have given this old hammer an anvil to remember.
Looney calls it the Book Of Waco.
“It’s nowhere to be found in my $350,000 law library.â€
Prosecutors just do as they please in McLennan County’s two criminal district court venues. “They have done it that way for years – because the judges let them get away with it.â€
More at link above.
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I didn't realize that "The Aging Rebel" had written a book : The Twin Peaks Ambush: A True Story About The Press, The Police And The Last American Outlaws by Donald Charles Davis
I just ordered myself a copy. I'll let U know if it lays it all out or not.
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I didn't realize that "The Aging Rebel" had written a book : The Twin Peaks Ambush: A True Story About The Press, The Police And The Last American Outlaws by Donald Charles Davis
I just ordered myself a copy. I'll let U know if it lays it all out or not.
Thanks! I am awaiting your review.
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Evidence Fireworks, Dead Ahead, In Bandido’s Trial
August 6, 2018 Radiolegendary
http://radiolegendary.com/2018/08/evidence-fireworks-dead-ahead-in-bandidos-trial/ (http://radiolegendary.com/2018/08/evidence-fireworks-dead-ahead-in-bandidos-trial/)
---Exculpatory evidence only recently obtained – after 39 long months – indicates that the state will use DNA markers from a sweatshirt and a swab of Mr. Mendez’ mouth to place him on the scene of a murder during the “melee†that was triggered when Aryan Circle members of the Cossacks MC confronted the Bandits with guns drawn over their intentions to park their scooters and order up a cold brew and burgers at the Confederation of Clubs meeting on May 17, 2015.---
---Metzger’s motion alleges Mendez was not wearing the sweatshirt.
Secondly, the DNA swab obtained during a court appearance was not legally provided, according to the arguments of a lineup of Texas legal talent that would make the Dream Team blush.
Visiting Judge James Morgan of Comanche hemmed, hawed, glowered, cajoled and shouted for the half dozen lawyers who hammered the blues over ex parte communication between Judge Ralph T. Strother and DA Abel Reyna to “MOVE ALONG!â€
In the end, he recused Strother in three cases for his clear display of “bias†by not letting the defense counsel know their clients would be submitting to a summons that would lead to a collection of evidence.
Another visiting judge recused him from the Jake Carrizal trial for similar reasons.---
---Did I mention that the state did not drop the charge of engaging in organized criminal activity before they asked a Grand Jury to re-indict Mendez on a new charge – under the original cause number – of felony rioting. Prosecutors described their actions as having done so in a effort to make it more CONVENIENT to encaption the offense, the Fifth Amendment proscription that “…any person be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb…†notwithstanding.
At the time of this writing, no ruling had been obtained from either Judge Johnson on the double jeopardy issue brought up in Looney’s motion to quash the identical indictment of Marcus Pilkington, or from Judge Strother on Metzger’s motion for the continuance of Mendez trial.