Free Republic

Daniel Hare, 39, met with volunteers Tuesday at the Waco Hippodrome, launching in earnest his campaign to become McLennan County's next district attorney. Hare is running as in independent in hopes of facing Republican nominee Barry Johnson, who defeated incumbent Abel Reyna last week. Reyna mistakenly made his approach to prosecuting Twin Peaks defendants too complicated, said Hare, director of employer relations and engagement at the Baylor University Law School. The May 2015 shootout at Twin Peaks left nine bikers dead and dozens injured, and Reyna orchestrated the arrest of 177 people at the restaurant that day on charges of...

The McLennan County District Attorney's Office dismissed the case against Twin Peaks shootout defendant Cody Ledbetter on Monday, four days before a jury panel in his case was supposed to report to court. The dismissal, signed by prosecutor Michael Jarrett, says that while probable cause remains in the case, the state is focusing on more culpable defendants in the Twin Peaks shootout, which left nine dead and dozens injured. Ledbetter, a 28-year-old diesel mechanic, and his attorney, Paul Looney, of Houston, eagerly snatched up the April 2 trial date that had been reserved for the retrial of Jacob Carrizal, president...

The judge named for a court of inquiry sought by an attorney for a biker charged in the Twin Peaks shootout on the merits of an accusation of perjury involving police and prosecutors has dismissed the inquiry without ever holding a hearing. “My decision (to dismiss the court of inquiry) rests on two separate and independent bases,” Judge David Peeples said in an email obtained Thursday by KWTX. “First, I conclude that the evidence of perjury is insufficient and does not justify continuing the court of inquiry. Second, I continue to have serious prudential concerns about procedure, as was suggested...

The tragedy last May 17 in Waco. Texas was a rock that fell from the sky into the ocean. Now the rock is buried fathoms deep and only the ripples remain - spreading farther and farther. The local authorities, most notably District Attorney Abel Reyna. know exactly how those nine men died. Video At a glance, this is not a complicated case. The actual bloodshed was captured on multiple video cameras. A mere 42 seconds elapsed from the very first overhand right until the moment a Cossack named Wayne Lee Campbell made the mistake of trying to shoot it out...

McLennan County commissioners on Tuesday approved paying almost $17,000 toward a liability insurance deductible because of a Twin Peaks-related lawsuit that named the county as a defendant and has since been dismissed. The court agreed to pay $16,971.87 to its insurance company, the Texas Association of Counties Risk Management Pool, in a case filed by Hewitt biker Matthew Clendennen, who was mong the 177 arrested following the May 17 Twin Peaks shootout that left nine dead and 20 injured. The court also approved a payment Tuesday of more than $1,160 toward its deductible because of an unrelated case that was...

A retired state district judge from Bosque County was appointed Monday to preside over the examining trial of a Hewitt biker — and potentially 19 others — arrested in the May 17 Twin Peaks shootout. Judge Billy Ray Stubblefield, administrative judge of the 26-county 3rd Judicial Region, confirmed Monday that he appointed Judge James Morgan to preside over the examining trial of Hewitt resident Matthew Clendennen, which is set for Aug. 10. Stubblefield said his order also gives Morgan authority to hear any of the 19 other cases involving bikers seeking examining trials to challenge whether there was sufficient probable...

It's not a gang, it's a club. When it comes to the Houston-born Bandidos Motorcycle Club, this debate has taken on some urgency and a few twists. Following a May 17 melee in Waco that left nine dead and 18 wounded, police arrested 177 bikers. Each was charged with engaging in organized criminal activity by being part of a conspiracy to commit murder and assault as part of a turf war between the Bandidos and a lesser-known rival, the Cossacks. The distinction carries a hefty penalty, as those charged faced 15 years to life in prison if convicted - even...

If you thought violent biker gangs were a relic of the Altamont era, the shootout at a Waco, Texas, restaurant on May 17 might have come as a shock. A long-simmering beef between the Bandidos and Cossacks boiled over into gunfire. When police arrived at the scene, gang members shot at them too, leaving nine bikers dead, 18 people injured, and 170 suspects in police custody. Over 100 weapons have been confiscated. The scale of this incident dwarfs a typical urban gang confrontation, says Harold Pollack, co-director of the University of Chicago Crime Lab and an expert on gangs and...

<p>WACO, Texas (AP) — First came a few pistol shots, then a barrage of what sounded like automatic gunfire during a shootout last month at a Waco restaurant favored by bikers, several witnesses said. But authorities still haven't said how many of the dead and wounded were the result of police fire.</p>

Thousands of bikers are expected to gather this weekend for an "All For One" rally in front of the McLennan County Courthouse. Most places in downtown Waco say will be open on Sunday. Most did not want to speak to us on camera; saying if you side with the community, the bikers will hate you and if you side with the bikers, the community will hate you. But, they all say everyone will be welcome. Mobile food vendor George Gaylord says he sees it as a great business opportunity. In fact, he plans to park his hot dog cart right...

As the Texas shootout that killed 9 motorcyclists fades from national headlines, local newspapers and a few larger media organizations have broken a series of small stories that prompted one alert Houston Press journalist to predict,“in the coming years, the Waco authorities' handling of the Twin Peaks biker gang shootout will become a textbook example of how not to handle an emergency situation.” Two weeks later, Waco authorities still aren’t telling how many of the dead bikers were shot by police officers, how many cops fired their weapons, or how many total rounds they discharged. snip Little wonder: holding upwards...

WACO -- KCEN got an exclusive interview with the first bikers to speak publicly after the Twin Peaks shooting, capturing the moments right after their release from jail after being arrested for the May 17th shooting that left nine bikers dead and 18 more injured. Waco Police had said the 170-plus bikers arrested were part of criminal motorcycle gangs. However, William English, 33, and Morgan English, 30, say otherwise, and that they had come to the sports bar for a friendly meeting between motorcycle clubs, and they weren't even inside the restaurant when the brawl broke out. [...] Mr. English...

“It appears the public defenders office in McLennan County is involved in this scurrilous activity,” said Paul Looney, a Houston attorney with Looney & Conrad, P.C. “I’ve never seen anything like the lawlessness that the authorities have perpetrated on these people and now to add insult to injury they are trying to cover their own tracks in exchange for bond.”

Photos on the Facebook page of a group called Free All The Waco Bikers appears to show police snipers on an apartment building rooftop, across the street from a Harley-Davidson dealership that was a hosting a memorial service for one of the bikers shot and killed outside a Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco on May 17. This is the second time in less than a week that snipers have been posted outside a Texas Harley Davidson dealership after the Waco incident. The most recent sniper sighting occurred at the “fundraiser and celebration of life” for Jesse Rodriquez, a decorated Vietnam...

WACO JUDGE AGREES TO LET MOST BIKERS GO – IF THEY SIGN A CONTRACT VOWING NOT TO SUE FOR WRONGFUL ARREST “It appears the public defenders office in McLennan County is involved in this scurrilous activity,” said Paul Looney, a Houston attorney with Looney & Conrad, P.C. “I’ve never seen anything like the lawlessness that the authorities have perpetrated on these people and now to add insult to injury they are trying to cover their own tracks in exchange for bond.”

WACO, TEXAS—After a gunfight between rival motorcycle gangs outside a crowded restaurant left nine dead, police rounded up everyone on the scene wearing biker vests. Now, as 174 people sit in jail on organized crime charges, legal experts say prosecutors face a difficult challenge, and that many of those arrested could end up going free. “They have bitten off more than they can chew,” said Robert Draskovich, a Las Vegas criminal defence lawyer who represents bikers. “Prosecutors often overreach and charge too many people, but I’ve never seen it to this extent.” To prove the current charges, which have capital...

The 170 bikers rounded up after a deadly battle in Texas this week included a retired police detective who traded in his badge for a Bandidos supporter patch. The San Antonio Police Department confirmed Wednesday that Martin Lewis was on the force for 32 years before retiring in 2004. It provided no further details about his service record. Lewis, 62, was charged with engaging in organized criminal activity and held on $1 million bond...