Posted on 02/28/2016 5:11:09 PM PST by Elderberry
A biker indicted in the Twin Peaks shootout who was denied an early trial setting last month because prosecutors said they were not ready for trial is asking a Waco appeals court to order a judge to set a speedy trial date in his case.
Houston attorney Paul Looney, who represents Cody Ledbetter, a member of the Cossacks motorcycle group, filed a petition asking Waco’s 10th Court of Appeals to order 19th State District Judge Ralph Strother to set a trial date for Ledbetter.
Ledbetter, of Waco, is one of 106 bikers indicted in November on first-degree felony engaging in organized criminal activity charges, with underlying offenses of murder and aggravated assault. Prosecutors say those indicted are members of criminal street gangs who attended the May 17 meeting of a biker coalition at Twin Peaks as a show of force.
Nine bikers were killed, some shot by police, and dozens more were injured.
Looney unsuccessfully argued last month that the indictment against Ledbetter should be quashed because the language in the charging instrument is overly vague and not specific enough to inform defendants what they are accused of doing.
> MORE: Attorneys decry grand jury proceedings
Looney then asked Strother to essentially move Ledbetter to the front of his already busy trial docket because he is ready to go to trial while others aren’t and the delay is causing Ledbetter “serious and long-standing harm.”
“I filed the petition to get Judge Strother to set a trial date and then we get to argue whether or not it was quick,” Looney said Friday. “The bottom line is the law says that when a defendant requests a trial, one of a speedy nature, he has the right to go ahead of others who are not making a similar request. That is a right. It is not something where he has to get lucky to get a speedy trial date. He has a right to a speedy trial date.”
At last month’s hearing, Looney characterized Ledbetter as a crime victim and said his indictment and wait for trial are preventing him from applying for state crime victim compensation because he witnessed his stepfather, Daniel “Diesel” Boyett, get killed in the shootout at Twin Peaks.
‘The only defendant’
“As far as I can tell, my client is the only defendant on the judge’s whole docket who is requesting a speedy trial, so yes, he should go first,” Looney said. “In my entire career, I have never had a judge deny a trial date when I asked for one. I don’t give a damn if the state is saying it is not ready. If they didn’t have their evidence in a condition for going to trial, then they should have waited to get an indictment.”
McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna did not return phone messages seeking comment for this story.
Michael Jarrett, Reyna’s first assistant, argued last month that the local courts have systems and procedures in place and Ledbetter has no right to change the system by putting his case ahead of others.
Jarrett also told the court that the investigation of the complex case by the DA’s office and state, federal and local authorities is still in “its infancy stage as far as being ready to go to trial.”
Jarrett said prosecutors have produced thousands of pages of discovery to defense attorneys but are still waiting for analysis of cellphone, DNA and ballistics evidence and the examination of thousands of biker Facebook posts, including ones by Ledbetter.
The term of the grand jury that returned indictments against the 106 bikers was extended through March to continue the Twin Peaks investigation. Authorities initially arrested 177 bikers.
No date has been set for the Twin Peaks grand jury to return.
Laws are for the peasants, not their overlords, silly.
Looney is 100% correct...
Twin Peaks?
Right!
Where'd my mind go?
Twin peaks.
Oh! Yes, speedy trial.
Its hard to stay on topic after post 2
Infancy stage?
We're pushing long enough that one should be ready to pop the chute.
Nine months?
At least when someone posts something of serious note, your distractive .gif/images are more pleasant than most, and without the annoying nonsense written all over them.
For those who don’t get the reference, Sherilyn Fenn from TV Twin Peaks
>>> Michael Jarrett, Reyna’s first assistant, argued last month that the local courts have systems and procedures in place and Ledbetter has no right to change the system by putting his case ahead of others. <<<
Misdirection I think. I’m pretty sure a judge can make that change while a defendant can’t.
Been long wondering when someone would invoke that right in this case.
“I don’t give a damn if the state is saying it is not ready. If they didn’t have their evidence in a condition for going to trial, then they should have waited to get an indictment.”
Good point.
Misdirection I think. I’m pretty sure a judge can make that change while a defendant can’t.
So they are saying that their “systems and procedures” overcome the “right to a speedy trial”?
Amazing!
“A convicted narco-trafficker who also is accused of engineering a hit on the wrong man was handed a stiff 27-year-prison sentence Tuesday for moving and selling cocaine from his East End home onto the streets of Houston.”
“So they are saying that their “systems and procedures” overcome the “right to a speedy trial”?”
Google Barker Standard
TG's reply does not pertain to speedy trial.
TGs reply does not pertain to Twin Peaks, Waco.
TG does not possess the intelligence required to post an article on his own.
Obviously, you missed the connection.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.