Posted on 11/19/2015 4:12:55 AM PST by don-o
Waco - A Houston attorney representing a Twin Peaks defendant estimated in a motion for the "earliest possible" trial setting that it will require $265 million and a minimum of two years to try the 106 cases of engaging in organized criminal activity indicted thus far.
Paul Looney based his estimate on a figure of $1,500 per hour to try a felony case in Harris County District Courts, assuming a three-day duration of each trial, at $2.5 million, gavel to gavel.
Based on his argument before the 19th District Court, it is becoming very easy for the relatively unsophisticated observer to discern a method to the madness of the mass arrests of 177 persons charged with the identical offense, with no individualization or particularity of probable cause.
The McLennan County criminal justice system stood to gain some hefty cash by arresting 177 persons on a bond of $1 million, housing them in a commercially operated jail at $45.50 per inmate per day, and requiring their compliance in wearing electronic monitoring bracelets at a cost of hundreds of dollars upon installation, and more than $100 each month.
It adds up.
But defense attorneys insist their clients are uninterested in pleading guilty to other charges and will not contemplate a guilty plea to such a vaguely worded indictment for a first degree felony.
Anyone with any legal savvy in the criminal justice field soon realizes that McLennan County officials have shot themselves in the foot by overwhelming their system with very problematic, highly contentious criminal litigation that won't go away any time soon.
Looking forward to the afternoon presser by 30 defense attorneys
As we become closer in the calendar to the first anniversary than the event itself it is clear that Waco continues to cover up. Rationally, one might think they would just drop all this legal posturing in regard to survivors of the atrocity but they persist. Curious.
I haven't found the civil suit on behalf of Vensel, but it must be out there. Three of the six are on the Bandidos side, the other three are on the Cossacks side, for what that is worth.
They’ll double down again, and seek federal aid before it is over (and that’s before the lawsuits). At this point there is such a compelling motive to find ‘guilty’ in all cases to save the jurisdiction hundreds of millions more, or a serious bias in the taxpayer’s self interest to rule for the defendant in civil litigation, that a change of venue could be sought.
“It adds up.”
And who’ll be saying that it’s worth every penny?
No additional bikers indicted (as previously rumored).
Has someone gotten the word to Reyna that he better be explaining how he plans to chew what he has already bitten off?
The Truth is going to be very expensive.
marked
Go ask the county about their yearly income generation from taxes. Unless the state steps in or they just offer up fancy deals for people to plea their way out....it’ll bankrupt the county.
If that happens, how will the cops ever be able to retire before the age of 50 with their golden parachutes?
Real estate sales in that county would come to a complete halt. Who would want to buy property there when your real property taxes will be $75,000 a year for a cute little bungalow?
I vaguely recall a statement that the biker cases specifically wouldn't be considered on the 18th, just "later." This may be the report that I recall, but it doesn't say exactly what I paraphrased ...
McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna has said the grand jury will return to consider charges against the other 80 bikers arrested on identical charges. The next grand jury session is scheduled for Nov. 18, but Reyna has declined to say whether the rest of the cases will be presented that day. "I have said all I am going to say about the Twin Peaks matter at this time," Reyna said Wednesday.
There was another public comment by Reyna on the same topic ...
"We're not done," Reyna told reporters Tuesday evening. "We still have a lot of work to do, and we'll continue to do that."
Interesting to me is the report that 30 lawyers are participating. Could they be "sending a message" that Reyna can expect some "cookie cutter" action coming back at him?
One lawyer drafts one motion and all 30 fill in the header for their own clients and file it.
I wonder what Maclennan County’s budget is for the year. I doubt it’s hundreds of millions of dollars. Someone’s sphincter should be tightening up.
What happens when a county in Texas goes bankrupt? Can they go bankrupt As a subdivision of the state, does the state have any skin in this? Would the county simply be merged into adjacent counties?
That’s on the table for West Virginia counties long term. Digitization of court house records makes it easier.
Found the complaint on Vensel's behalf. It's linked from Twin Peaks Civil Rights Lawsuits Filed - Don Tittle Law - Nov. 18
The page cites a handful of Federal cases on the issue of Fourth Amendment requirement for particularlity of suspicion, charges and accusations.
Our office has filed the first group of civil rights lawsuits related to the Twin Peak incident. More filings are expected in the future.
Other than damages, the basis for suit against Stroman, Chavez, Reyna and an unnamed Texas DPS agent are the same, so one would expect to find the civil complaints to be very similar. The complaints are considerably more particular than the compliant used to justify arrest and detention, and the indictment. The civil rights suits give particulars about each plaintiff, in Section V "Facts Pertaining to Plaintiff." I notice the following section, "Causes of Action," is also labeled "V," a typo in that the section after "Causes of Action" is "VII."
A Texas court of appeals held that the cookie cutter complaints were sufficient. These suits claim the opposite, and ask a federal court to review the case on the same question.
The question of sufficiency of indictment will no doubt come up in Texas courts during pretrial maneuvering, beginning at arraignment - whenever the state decides to get around to that important and essential formality.
Tommy Witherspoon just replied to my question to confirm the presser this afternoon - 2:15 Central time.
I count 20 lawyers in that view. The other photo Tommy tweeted, of the press camera array, showed half a dozen or so press cameras. I didn’t find a live feed on YouTube, but there are many Waco Biker videos, so any live ‘tube may have been buried.
I counted 21 - did you miss Broden? Looked hard for a live feed. Hope someone is recording it.
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