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County hires attorney to help with subpoenas from Twin Peaks shootout
Waco Herald-Tribune ^ | June 30, 2015 | TOMMY WITHERSPOON

Posted on 07/01/2015 4:48:13 AM PDT by don-o

McLennan County hired former prosecutor and longtime Waco attorney David Deaconson on Tuesday to represent local judges who are being subpoenaed because of their involvement in the ongoing Twin Peaks biker case.

Deaconson said he will represent McLennan County Justice of the Peace W.H. “Pete” Peterson at a hearing Thursday in Waco’s 54th State District Court.

The hearing was requested by Corsicana attorney John H. Jackson, who represents biker Ronald Atterbury, 44, of Gatesville.

Atterbury has filed an application for habeas corpus, challenging the legality of his confinement and claiming that his $1 million bond is unreasonable.

Jackson also subpoenaed for the Thursday hearing Waco Police Chief Brent Stroman and Waco police Officer Manuel Chavez, who drafted the identical complaints against the 177 bikers charged with engaging in organized criminal activity in the wake of the May 17 shootout.

McLennan County Judge Scott Felton said commissioners hired Deaconson to handle several subpoenas filed and others expected to come for Peterson, Jail Magistrate Virgil Bain and any other county official.

Deaconson filed a motion to quash the subpoena for Peterson, claiming that his testimony is “immaterial, irrelevant and can add nothing to the matters to be considered by this court” to determine Atterbury’s application.

“Requiring (Peterson’s) appearance and testimony is simply a tactic of harassment and potentially an attempt at premature and improper discovery,” Deaconson’s motion to quash says.

Jackson says in his motion that Atterbury is indigent and disabled and supports several dependents with an armed services disability.

First Assistant District Attorney Michael Jarrett has offered to reduce Atterbury’s bond to $100,000, Jackson’s motion says, but even that is not enough to free him from jail.

Deaconson’s motion also says it is improper to compel testimony from a judge about the mental processes by which the judge reached a decision.

Peterson signed the arrest warrants for the bikers and set their bonds at $1 million.

Deaconson said he is charging the county $250 an hour for his services, down $30 an hour from his normal rate.

Precinct 4 County Commissioner Ben Perry said Deaconson has more criminal experience than Mike Dixon, the Waco attorney retained by the county for most of its civil matters.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; News/Current Events; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: waco
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1 posted on 07/01/2015 4:48:13 AM PDT by don-o
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To: don-o

I do not understand why application for habeas corpus wasn’t filed on behalf of each jailed biker after 48 hours of incarceration.


2 posted on 07/01/2015 4:53:41 AM PDT by wrench
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To: wrench
I do not understand why application for habeas corpus wasn’t filed on behalf of each jailed biker after 48 hours of incarceration.

I don't understand why dope dealing gangs haven't been hunted down by vigilantes yet.

3 posted on 07/01/2015 5:00:12 AM PDT by Ethan Clive Osgoode (<<== Click here to learn about Evolution!)
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To: don-o

http://www.wacotrib.com/news/twin-peaks-biker-shooting/grand-jury-extended-months-to-hear-twin-peaks-biker-cases/article_6638fb6b-1a09-54e3-9101-5504618dfe53.html

For some reason, I cannot post this second story (does not like the url). Maybe someone else could try to make it a separate thread??

Grand jury extended 2 months to hear Twin Peaks biker cases


4 posted on 07/01/2015 5:01:44 AM PDT by don-o (I am Kenneth Carlisle - Waco 5/17/15)
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To: Ethan Clive Osgoode
I don't understand why dope dealing gangs haven't been hunted down by vigilantes yet.

And while we are at it, a major overhaul of the 4th Amendment is way pat due.

5 posted on 07/01/2015 5:06:27 AM PDT by don-o (I am Kenneth Carlisle - Waco 5/17/15)
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To: Ethan Clive Osgoode

Looks like the vigilantes started with Americans riding on 2 wheels.


6 posted on 07/01/2015 5:09:39 AM PDT by wrench
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To: don-o

Try this link
http://m.wacotrib.com/news/twin-peaks-biker-shooting/grand-jury-extended-months-to-hear-twin-peaks-biker-cases/article_6638fb6b-1a09-54e3-9101-5504618dfe53.html


7 posted on 07/01/2015 5:14:39 AM PDT by Texas Fossil (Texas is not where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind & Attitude!)
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To: don-o

Osgoode does not understand the “agenda” behind the Wac(k)o Twin Peaks incident.


8 posted on 07/01/2015 5:17:17 AM PDT by Texas Fossil (Texas is not where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind & Attitude!)
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To: Texas Fossil
Osgoode does not understand the “agenda” behind the Wac(k)o Twin Peaks incident.

You mean, the usual agenda of gangs killing each other over drug turf?

9 posted on 07/01/2015 5:24:54 AM PDT by Ethan Clive Osgoode (<<== Click here to learn about Evolution!)
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To: don-o

“Because grand jury proceedings are confidential, it is unclear whether prosecutors already have started presenting evidence to the grand jury from the May 17 Twin Peaks shootout, which left nine bikers dead and 20 wounded.”

Headshake


10 posted on 07/01/2015 5:25:04 AM PDT by Texas Fossil (Texas is not where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind & Attitude!)
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To: don-o

In the words of the police, “If you haven’t did anything wrong, why do you need a lawyer?”


11 posted on 07/01/2015 5:28:48 AM PDT by sport
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To: Ethan Clive Osgoode

That is simply NOT what is happening in Wac(k)o. This is the worst abuse of prosecutorial authority that I have ever seen. Note, I’m 67 and a native Texan.


12 posted on 07/01/2015 5:31:20 AM PDT by Texas Fossil (Texas is not where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind & Attitude!)
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To: Texas Fossil

That link does not work, either.

Since we have no c/r issues with source - here is the article

Grand jury extended 2 months to hear Twin Peaks biker cases

By TOMMY WITHERSPOON twitherspoon@wacotrib.com | Posted: Tuesday, June 30, 2015 7:45 pm
Abel Reyna

Abel Reyna

With 100 potential grand jurors waiting to report to the McLennan County Courthouse next week to break in a new system for selecting grand juries, a judge Tuesday extended the term of the current grand jury to consider the Twin Peaks shootout case.

Judge Matt Johnson of Waco’s 54th State District Court agreed to extend the grand jury’s term by 60 days through the end of August. The grand jury’s current term was set to expire Tuesday.

In an order signed Tuesday, Johnson said he was extending the term “for the purpose of concluding the investigation into the incident at Twin Peaks, allegations and circumstances surrounding such incident.”

The terms of grand juries can be extended by up to 90 days, but can be done only for the panel to consider one specific issue.

McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna did not return phone messages Tuesday left at his office and on his cellphone.

Crawford Long, a lifelong prosecutor who retired from the McLennan County District Attorney’s Office in 2010 after a 30-year career, said there are several reasons why prosecutors might seek to extend the term of a grand jury.

“If you have a grand jury that you have already presented a substantial amount of evidence to about something and you feel good about working with that particular group of people, then there is really no reason to re-plow the field starting over with a new one,” Long said.

Because grand jury proceedings are confidential, it is unclear whether prosecutors already have started presenting evidence to the grand jury from the May 17 Twin Peaks shootout, which left nine bikers dead and 20 wounded.

District Clerk Jon Gimble said no date has been set for the current grand jury to return to the courthouse.

Another attorney familiar with the grand jury process who asked not to be identified said it also might have the appearance of impropriety if prosecutors ask the same grand jury to determine whether Waco police officers who shot and possibly killed some of the bikers acted properly, and whether there is sufficient evidence to indict some or all of the bikers.

Those issues probably would be best determined by separate grand juries, the lawyer said, and extending the existing grand jury term before empaneling a new grand jury would allow that to happen.

For the first time in at least 75 years, McLennan County will change the manner in which grand juries are selected because of a new law passed in the final days of the most recent Texas legislative session.

The change ends the so-called key-man system and allows only randomly selected panels to consider whether prosecutors have sufficient evidence for an indictment.

The current system, used in McLennan County for longer than longtime courthouse officials can remember, will end in McLennan County on July 8, although the new law does not take effect until Sept. 1.

The grand jury selected that day will serve for three months and work separately from the current grand jury.

Texas is the last state that allows grand juries to be selected through the key-man method, a system its critics call “pick a pal.”

Historically, McLennan County grand juries have been selected after a felony criminal court judge appoints four or five commissioners. Those commissioners then nominate four or five prospective grand jurors each, and the first 12 who qualify and agree to serve make up the grand jury.

The new method will select grand jury members randomly from lists of registered voters and licensed drivers, just as petit juries in civil and criminal cases are selected.


13 posted on 07/01/2015 5:31:23 AM PDT by don-o (I am Kenneth Carlisle - Waco 5/17/15)
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To: Texas Fossil

Oh, I believes he understands it. But as Germany proved in the 30s, there will always be those who help load the cattle cars with a demonized and hated minority.


14 posted on 07/01/2015 5:33:59 AM PDT by sport
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To: Ethan Clive Osgoode

Have you turned in to the authorities the names of those you personally know are dealing drugs. Or are you just wanting to get rid of the completion?


15 posted on 07/01/2015 5:36:04 AM PDT by sport
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To: sport
a demonized and hated minority.

You mean like homos? Outlaw bikers are the new homos? Poor Timmy. He was an outlaw badass biker. But people hated him just because he liked wearing Harley ass jewelery. One day the cops threw him in the slammer and bullied him. Poor Timmy got home and killed himself. There are thousands of biker Timmys out there. STOP THE BULLYING! RIDE THE HARLEY RAINBOW for a tolerant America! An america that believes in coexistence! It ain't fair to hate drug-dealing criminal gang members just because they ride a bike and like to wear leather and neck tattoos. WACKO IS THE BIKER STONEWALL!

16 posted on 07/01/2015 5:40:11 AM PDT by Ethan Clive Osgoode (<<== Click here to learn about Evolution!)
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To: sport

Yep


17 posted on 07/01/2015 5:40:27 AM PDT by Texas Fossil (Texas is not where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind & Attitude!)
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To: Ethan Clive Osgoode

115 of 177 rounded up on identical probable cause affidavits and held on $1,000,000 bonds for weeks had no criminal convictions.

oops


18 posted on 07/01/2015 5:49:32 AM PDT by don-o (I am Kenneth Carlisle - Waco 5/17/15)
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To: Ethan Clive Osgoode
The question was, "Have you turned in to the authorities the names of those [bikers] you personally know that are dealing drugs"? It only required a yes or no answer.

I do not really care about Timmy or Jimmy. I do care about due process of law and the Constitutional protections.

19 posted on 07/01/2015 5:51:31 AM PDT by sport
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To: sport
I do not really care about Timmy or Jimmy. I do care about due process of law and the Constitutional protections.

As Kryptonite is to Superman and the Crucifix is to Dracula, so is the Constitution and due process to our Band of Trolls.

20 posted on 07/01/2015 6:01:14 AM PDT by don-o (I am Kenneth Carlisle - Waco 5/17/15)
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