Posted on 09/28/2015 6:01:10 PM PDT by Elderberry
How a Texas judge’s “irresponsibly biased public comments” led defense lawyers to file an official judicial complaint.
On a seemingly normal Sunday afternoon in May, a congregation of bikers met at a Twin Peaks bar and restaurant in Waco, Texas.
While reports are still vague, some say it all started with someone getting their foot ran over. What followed in that heated exchanged would be one of the worst incidents of biker gang violence in U.S. history: 9 dead, 18 injured, and 177 arrested.
More than four months later, the incident is far from an open-and-shut case. There’s a gag order in place and not a single person has actually been indicted.
One consideration drawing attention is the fate of the 177 individuals who’ve found themselves arrested, and facing bonds as high as $1 million.
This issue prompted the 3,000-member Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association to file a judicial complaint against Justice of the Peace W.H. “Pete” Peterson, alleging a violation of the law and the Texas Constitution. It’s the second complaint against the JP.
TCDLA President Sam Bassett tells the Standard about what the complaint could mean for transparency in the courts.
“There was no differentiation in the defendants,” he says. “There was no individualized analysis of what involvement the persons might have had.”
Bassett says the “quick cut-and-paste” probable cause affidavits filed led to $1 million bonds for all 177 arrested.
Prosecutors and police officers have said that the high bail amount is meant to send a message that biker gang activity will not be tolerated. Bassett says Justice Peterson’s comments of the same sentiment show bias before trial.
“We have a presumption of innocence and for a judge, a judicial official to say ‘We’re gonna send a message’ is totally out of bounds,” he says.
That’s what Attorneys do and it is news.
I’m confused. Isn’t this a felony case? So why is it in a JP court? Shouldn’t it be in a county court?
FYI
The JP was the one that signed the Cookie Cutter probable cause affidavits.
They will be tried in County Criminal Court.
For another, it is quite misleading with "the fate of the 177 individuals who’ve found themselves arrested, and facing bonds as high as $1 million."
Er ... um ... no, ALL OF THEM were held on million-dollar bonds. Not "as high as." Wrong, there. Where did that even come from? It is corrected/contradicted four paragraphs later. Why was "as high as" even IN the story at all? And first, so that the casual reader assumes that only a few were held on "as high as" a million dollar bail?
The Texas Standard is a low one as far as journalism goes.
In before some idiot says: “They must be guilty because the police arrested them.”
I just listened to the audio, and it was somewhat better than the text.
Piss poor "journalism." Yet I'll bet a lot of people think they're informed by reading the Texas Standards. Yeah .. informed at about two percent.
Oh good ... I’ll go listen. Having gotten a [mostly worthless] university degree in journalism, stuff like this just floors me.
That’s disturbing. JP’s are often not even lawyers. I had a political science teacher in high school who was a JP. It’s an elected office anyone can run for.
Excuse me — all but one, residents of Texas (if I remember correctly from earlier painstaking due diligence where I got the list of names and manually counted it)
The Man Who Put 177 Bikers in Prison.. Fast Facts about Walter H. Peterson
-— The Justice of the Peace that issued the arrest warrants, Walter H. “Pete” Peterson, is a former Public Safety Trooper with no formal legal training; meaning he is not a judge nor an attorney! -—
I lived in Texas for forty years and never knew JP’s could set bail in felony cases. I thought bail had to be set by a judge competent to hear a case involving what the defendants have been charged with.
Yes, the audio was much better than the text. But still wanting!
That sure makes sense to me too.
I wonder where one could see the actual complaint.
Cboldt might know ...
worst incidents of biker gang violence in U.S. history: 9 dead, 18 injured, and 177 arrested.
Last time I checked they REFUSE to say how many were Killed by Police and How many killed by Bikers, we know they admit to shooting “some”. Sounds more and more like ALL of them were Executed by Police
They sure are taking their sweet time on the ballistics report.
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