Posted on 10/04/2017 3:40:19 PM PDT by Elderberry
A Twin Peaks defendant is seeking to disqualify the McLennan County District Attorney's Office from prosecuting his case, claiming prosecutors engaged in "illegal and outrageous" conduct by releasing images of the biker and his wife having sex as part of the massive Twin Peaks discovery process.
Houston attorney Paul Looney, who represents Cody Ledbetter, said Wednesday he intends to file a motion Thursday seeking to recall the Twin Peaks discovery because of photos and videos of Ledbetter and his wife having consensual sexual relations that were on Ledbetter's confiscated cellphone.
"The district attorney and his assistants have committed numerous crimes against Mr. Ledbetter and his wife by knowingly revealing these intimate images on his telephone without any legal excuse," Looney said.
Ledbetter, 28, of Waco, is a former member of the Cossacks group who saw his stepfather, Daniel Boyett, shot and killed at Twin Peaks in May 2015. His trial is set for Jan. 9, 2018, in 19th State District Court.
Looney said that after the inspection of the bikers' cellphones, instead of deeming the images irrelevant and deleting them, the images were copied more than 150 times and distributed to counsel and staff for each of the Twin Peaks defendants as part of the discovery process.
"These private images, intended to be seen only by Ledbetter and his wife, have been made available to hundreds, if not thousands of people, including other defendants, their attorneys, the staff of those attorneys' law firms and/or investigators," Looney said.
In seeking to disqualify the DA's office, Looney alleges prosecutors now are in the unique position of prosecuting the victims of their own intentional crimes.
"Clearly, in this case, prejudice is plain. Mr. Reyna and numerous others prosecutors in his office have victimized Mr. Ledbetter and his wife," the motion states. "They have shown no respect for his rights and cannot justly prosecute their own victim."
District Attorney Abel Reyna did not return phone messages Wednesday.
"The state has been claiming a 'duty to disclose' that never applied to these images, and that is simply an outrage," said Clay Conrad, Looney's law partner. "They have a duty to disclose relevant information, but they also have a duty not to disclose private sexual images having absolutely nothing to do with the current case."
The motion states the state violated the rights of the Ledbetters by disseminating the images and alleges the Texas Penal Code makes the distribution of such images without their consent a criminal act.
"They are not protected by immunity," Looney said. "They are not protected by discovery rules and they are not protected by common sense. Those actions were and still are simply criminal. The District Attorney's Office in McLennan County can no longer be responsible for the prosecution of Cody Ledbetter.
"A special prosecutor must be appointed. There is no argument that a person can criminally victimize another person and continue to serve as a prosecutor against that person. McLennan County citizens have a right to be disgusted with the behavior of their prosecutors."
Last year, prosecutors were forced to recall a portion of the Twin Peaks evidence that was sent out to defense attorneys because there was child pornography on the phone or phones of one or more of the bikers.
Seems like time is finally running out for continued delay in these trails.
I don’t think the trails are delayed and are open for local hikers. However, the trials have been delayed, for sure. ;)
‘because of photos and videos of Ledbetter and his wife having consensual sexual relations that were on Ledbetter’s confiscated cellphone.’
Nobody wants to see that.
IBTG.
Nah. 6 and a half more years.
TG will.
Like everything else from riding motorcycles to wearing rally patches to attending a legislative overview of new Texas laws affecting cycling this engaging in sex proves all these motorcyclists are one percenters.
It’s like global warming.
What scumbags. They were probably passing this around the office to get their jollies.
Thanks for update
“TG will....”
**************
Perhaps the reason I can successfully say “IBTG” is the possibility that TG is anxiously reviewing (and rereviewing and rereviewing) that particular discovery material?
Reyna and others in the Waco justice dept need to get acquainted with Mike Nifong, looks like they have similar futures.
"to attending a legislative overview of new Texas laws GANG GUNFIGHT
Sad when the highlight of your day is a personal attack on me.
Two plus years and you still get the jollies over posting inane personal attacks that you know don’t affect me in the least!
But whatever gets your rocks off ...
TG might, making claims it is illegal child bride or such.
The law says: “A person commits an offense if:
(1) without the effective consent of the depicted person, the person intentionally discloses visual material depicting another person with the person’s intimate parts exposed or engaged in sexual conduct;
(2) the visual material was obtained by the person or created under circumstances in which the depicted person had a reasonable expectation that the visual material would remain private;
(3) the disclosure of the visual material causes harm to the depicted person; and
(4) the disclosure of the visual material reveals the identity of the depicted person in any manner, including through any accompanying or subsequent information or material related to the visual material or information or material provided by a third party in response to the disclosure of the visual material.”
“(2) the visual material was obtained by the person or created under circumstances in which the depicted person had a reasonable expectation that the visual material would remain private; “
When get arrested for conspiracy to commit murder any expectation that contents of the cellphone you are carrying goes right out the window!
Really stupid to think after all this time infantile posts will have any impact on me.
But what ever knocks your socks off ...
Like I said, ain’t nobody gonna want to see that.
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