Posted on 12/07/2015 5:10:58 PM PST by don-o
An attorney for a Waco biker who was wounded in the May 17 Twin Peaks shootout asked a judge to dismiss the indictment against his client Monday or give him the earliest possible trial date.
Judge Ralph Strother of Waco's 19th State District Court arraigned Cody Ledbetter, a Cossack, and Clifford Pearce, a Cossack pledge, who both pleaded not guilty to first-degree felony engaging in organized criminal activity charges, with the underlying offenses alleged to be murder and assault.
Like Ledbetter, Pearce, also from Waco, was wounded in the shootout and attended Monday's hearing in a wheelchair. His attorney, Kurt Glass, of Belton, said Pearce was paralyzed after being shot in the back during the incident that left nine bikers dead and more than 20 wounded.
Six more bikers were scheduled for arraignments Monday morning, but they waived the proceedings, which is common in most felony cases.
Ledbetter's attorney, Paul Looney, of Houston, who has challenged the state's prosecution theory in the cases, asked Strother for a speedy trial date, saying he was willing to go to trial without complete discovery and will not seek to move the trial from Waco.
Prosecutor Aubrey Robertson argued that there are a number of other defendants in jail who have been indicted longer than Ledbetter and said there is no reason to push his case ahead of them in the trial schedule.
Looney said that if they tried Ledbetter quickly, the side that lost could appeal and an appeals court "could get to crux of the matter" of whether the state is properly charging the bikers in the case.
Strother set a tentative trial date for Ledbetter for May 31, 2016. However, later Monday, a court staff member canceled that date and put Ledbetter and the other biker cases on the court's normal trial schedule after speaking to a member of the district attorney's office. That will postpone Ledbetter's tentative trial date.
Six more bikers are set for arraignment in 19th State District Court on Tuesday. Arraignments for about 15 bikers whose cases are assigned to 54th State District Court are set for next week.
The indictments, like the arrest warrant affidavits filed to support the 177 bikers arrested, are identical, alleging the same acts for all 106 indicted Nov. 10. Nine indictments were returned under seal because those defendants had not been arrested. Those indictments have since been unsealed, as those bikers have also been arrested, bringing the total to 186 arrested in the case.
The indictments charge that the defendants engaged in organized criminal activity by intentionally or knowingly causing the death of an individual, and names the nine bikers killed May 17.
> MORE: Attorneys decry grand jury proceedings
> LIST: 106 bikers indicted in May 17 Twin Peaks shootout
The charges allege the defendants killed the victims by "shooting and/or stabbing and/or cutting and/or striking" the victims. The indictments also allege the defendants used or exhibited a deadly weapon, namely "a firearm and/or a knife or a sharp object and/or a club and/or an asp and/or a whip and/or brass knuckles and/or a chain."
"And the defendant did then and there commit the offense as a member of a criminal street gang," the indictments allege.
The indictments also charge that the defendants caused bodily injury to those injured, and names 24 bikers who were either shot, stabbed, cut or struck.
Pearce and "Cory" Ledbetter are listed as victims in the indictments, but Looney says in a motion filed Monday to quash the indictment that he assumes the indictments contained a typographical error and they should say "Cody."
"Cody Ledbetter was a victim," Looney's motion says. "He was injured, and he witnessed his stepfather being murdered. He did nothing other than see his stepfather murdered in front of him and then run for cover. He cannot be a victim and be responsible as criminally culpable in the same offense."
> MORE: Stuck behind bars -- Families claim innocence
Looney claims the prosecution's theory in the case is that Ledbetter's mere presence alone is sufficient to constitute "requisite culpable mental state" to support the charges, adding that the indictment alleges he committed no overt criminal act.
"Cody Ledbetter is affiliated withe the Cossacks Motorcycle Club," the motion states. "In affiliating with the Cossacks, Cody Ledbetter was not on notice from any source that the Cossacks motorcycle club was considered by law enforcement as a 'criminal street gang.' The Cossacks have never been listed as a 'criminal street gang' on the law enforcement watch list."
Good. Been wondering when somebody would.
No link?
So the DA had to put the squeeze on the judge. Wonder if the communication was ex-parte.
Link, as requested.
How is the delayed justice possibly Constitutional?
Strange. Posted the full article, though.
Looney moved for speedy trial oh, about the time indictments were handed down, what, three weeks ago?
Arraignment starts a discovery calendar.
The highest criminal court in Texas is still working on the gag order case. It's had it under considdration for two months now, case was "submitted" on October 7th, all arguments by parties having been submitted by September 23rd.
Speedy appeals in Texas, too.
The courts define "speedy," and the courts decide "constitutional." Piece of cake. There have been cases that literally took a decade to get to trial, and the courts found "speedy trial" had been granted.
Well, we know that The Law doesn’t do a good job of providing Justice without adequate expenditures of the accused.
What is this Constitution you speak of? I know we used to have one, but it was deemed racist and subsequently outlawed.
IBTG
You could have stopped there. Courts perpetuate a fiction that they are about justice. Courts are extension of the prosecutor's conviction-geared apparatus; and in civil cases, will follow the money, which may or may not deliver justice. IOW, "justice" in courts is an accidental artifact of the outcome the court prefers.
“How is the delayed justice possibly Constitutional?”
This is the second time, and the most public, that I’ve seen dockets set after ex parte communications between the prosecution and the bench, outside of court and just done over the phone. Our system is increasingly a mere show, and designed to twist out submissions rather than prove convictions. This stinks to hell. It might be enough of a high profile case to get proper appellate attention.
Best to stay out of the maw whenever possible.
Does this calendar apply to all evidence?
What if the ballistics reports are still not out yet?
Maybe he waived his right to a speedy trial when he was booked. That is a big mistake many people do when it’s offered at the time of booking.
I’m sure some jurisdictions run Kangaroo Courts.
Good one. It’s posts like yours that make me wish we had a “like” button. It would have saved me all this typing. :)
Yes, whatever the state has. Turnover is an ongoing duty, as well. If the state gets something new, especially exculpatory evidence, it is obliged to turn that over "promptly," whatever that means.
-- What if the ballistics reports are still not out yet? --
Ballistics is irrelevant for the Ledbetter and Pearce cases.
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