Posted on 11/17/2015 5:05:41 AM PST by don-o
A Waco biker indicted in the Twin Peaks shootout wants to go to trial first and as quickly as possible as a "test case" to prove that prosecutors are working under a "flawed" legal theory, the man;s attorney said Monday.
Houston attorney Paul C. Looney, who represents Cody Ledbetter, filed a motion Monday requesting "the earliest possible trial setting" for Ledbetter, a 26-year-old auto mechanic and a member of the Cossacks biker group.
Ledbetter was among 106 bikers indicted Nov. 10 on first-degree felony engaging in organized criminal activity charges.
> MORE: Grand jury indicts 106 bikers in connection with Twin Peaks shootout
Nine of those indictments were sealed because the defendants had not yet been arrested. Three of those bikers named in sealed indictments turned themselves in to the county jail Monday and the indictments were unsealed.
They include Ray Nelson, Jeffrey Veillon and Clifford Pearce. Nelson, of Waco, remained in jail Monday under $250,000 bond, but jail officials had no information about Veillon and Pearce on Monday evening.
District Clerk Jon Gimble confirmed that the three indictments had been unsealed, but he had no additional information about the cases.
> LIST: Bikers indicted on Nov. 10
Looney said he hopes his motion serves as a possible solution for the “potential quagmire†the possibility of 80 more indicted cases could pose to the county’s judicial system and taxpayer-based coffers.
McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna said the remaining 80 cases from the Twin Peaks melee will be handled "in one form or fashion."
Reyna did not return phone calls Monday seeking comment for this story. His first assistant, Michael Jarrett, who spoke with Looney about the motion Monday, declined comment.
> MORE: Questions, answers about Twin Peaks indictments
"Most of the defense lawyers believe that you cannot have a conviction based on the notion that these people showed up at Twin Peaks in a show of force," Looney said. "Most of us believe that theory is flawed and that the appellate courts will not support a conviction on it.
"If, in fact, they do support a conviction, all of the other defendants are going to want to plead out to save as much time as they can. But if we are correct, most of the cases will have to be dismissed and won’t have to be tried. I am ready to pick a jury," Looney said.
Looney's motion says the state's theory that the bikers are guilty by "arriving at Twin Peaks for a bike-club informational meeting" while wearing motorcycle jackets bearing insignias of either Cossacks or Bandidos in "a show of force for a criminal street gang" can’t be supported by the evidence.
"It is a theory that does not appear to have ever before been presented to a Texas court," his motion states.
> MORE: Twin Peaks biker attorneys decry grand jury proceedings
The cases will be tried separately, and many will seek to move their trials from McLennan County because of publicity, the motion says.
The trials will be an “enormous strain†on the resources of McLennan County courts, prosecutors, taxpayers and defense attorneys, Looney wrote.
"Further, it is almost inconceivable that any defendants will choose to plead guilty when being faced with an untested legal theory - it could conceivably be malpractice for an attorney to recommend a guilty plea on what may turn out to be deemed legally insufficient evidence because of a flawed prosecution theory.
"Because of the remote likelihood that any significant number of cases will be resolved with pleas or dismissals and the large number of defendants, even if one case was tried every week it would take more than two years to resolve the cases from this one incident," the motion says.
Most cases are resolved through plea agreements. But these cases are not like ordinary cases, Looney's motion states.
Because of the percentage of these cases likely headed to trial, the 106 cases are more like adding 1,000 extra cases to the courts’ dockets, the motion says.
Looney estimates the trials, including the possibility of increased expenses if trials are moved to other counties, plus a “virtual flood†of potential civil litigation, will cost McLennan County millions of dollars.
The same rubber-stamp mass-indictment could just as easily be turned against conservatives, say at a Tea Party rally where violence broke out. Even if the violence was caused by govt agents-provocateurs.
Speedy trials don’t seem to be in the offing.
“Houston attorney Paul C. Looney, who represents Cody Ledbetter”
Can Cody sing well?
http://www.biography.com/people/lead-belly-39541
Huddie Ledbetter, better known as “Lead Belly,” was born in the late 1880s..
In December 1917, Ledbetter was arrested and charged with murder and was found guilty. Prison is where it seems he picked up the nickname Lead Belly. In early 1924, only a few years into a 20-year sentence, Lead Belly sang for Texas governor Pat Neff a song in which he asked for a pardon. A year later, Neff pardoned Lead Belly and he was a free man.
Only five years later, Lead Belly was involved in a stabbing incident that led to “assault with intent to murder” charges and another prison sentence. Budget issues causes by the Great Depression allowed him to apply for early release, which he did, and the sitting governor approved the application in 1934. (He also sang a song to this governor, pleading for release.)...
I remember, once upon a time, a country where there was the right of assembly and freedom of association.
“Nine of those indictments were sealed because the defendants had not yet been arrested. Three of those bikers named in sealed indictments turned themselves in to the county jail Monday and the indictments were unsealed.”
So thy cops arrested everyone in sight at TP and even people that weren’t there(but in Waco) and still didn’t get everyone that was billed by the grand jury? What a fiasco.
B I N G O !
That fear should be on everyone’s mind.
Yep.
Prosecutors have become recklessly cavalier and indolent as all the “homeland security” legislation such as AEDPA has eroded traditional Anglo-American standards of criminal law. This DA’s office just bit off way more than it can chew, and this case will turn into a mosh pit of insufficient evidence, credible alibis and affirmative defenses. It will indeed be a white elephant for the county.
Sounds vaguely familiar. Where was that again?
< /sarc>
A majority of FReepers who participate in these threads, I believe, understand that.
When the matter went past 48 hours and bonds were set at $1,000,000 the red flag went up. When I learned that all 177 were arrested on IDENTICAL affidavits of probable cause, another red flag went up.
When I learned that Abelino Reyna had dictated that affidavit, it pretty well confirmed to me that the fix was in and they were doing it in plain sight.
When the gag order was issued, then overturned, then reinstated, I knew that the usual suspects were indeed in place and fulfilling their roles.
It is a hopeful sign that defense attorneys are raising the right points when they dare to speak aloud.
Sounds like some of the 9 were wounded and in the hospital.
Why did that stop their arrests? Makes no sense.
And how much more will it cost if everyone requests a jury trial?
enough to bankrupt the county. Not to mention the time it would take. I doubt their courts have the bandwidth.
It makes perfect sense dummy...county jail isn't equipped to be a hospital ward.
Looney cites $1000 - $1500 per hour of court time. And that does not include costs associated with change of venue.
There we go! A great gambit for mutually respectful discussion of the specifics and suspicions. /s
>>
McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna said the remaining 80 cases from the Twin Peaks melee will be handled “in one form or fashion.”
<<
What happened to the obligation for a speedy trial? There must be something in the water in this county, because this is not the first time that government has lost its mind and gone to war against its citizens. A number of the victims from the previous debacle are still in prison for non-murder.
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