Posted on 07/01/2015 6:45:10 AM PDT by don-o
Dallas attorney Clint Broden has been loudly skeptical of the repeated and clumsy lies official Waco has been telling the public since nine men were murdered outside the Twin Peaks restaurant on May 17. Broden has been sending out daily press releases and holding news conferences on the case for two weeks. Today State District Judge Matt Johnson, at the instigation of District Attorney Abel Reyna, forbid Broden from discussing the Twin Peaks Massacre publically.
Johnson issued the order at a subpoena hearing. Broden had subpoenaed video shot by the Twin Peaks restaurant on May 17 in order to better defend his client, a Scimitar Motorcycle Club member named Matt Clendennen. Johnson told Broden he could have the video but he could only show it to Clendennen and any experts he night hire.
The gag order is not a surprise. Reyna has been threatening defense attorneys with it for at least a fortnight. When contacted by telephone, a representative of Broden’s Dallas law firm, Broden, Mickelsen, Helms & Snipes, tersely explained that the gag order also forbids anyone at the firm from discussing the gag order or the process under which the gag order may be appealed.
Protecting Whom
Nevertheless, it is a matter of public record that Broden intends to appeal the gag order and hopes to release the video. Numerous officials in Waco have already discussed the video publically and have, apparently, lied about its contents. The gag order seems intended to protect public and police officials from being confronted with their own lies. Johnson said he was forbidding discussion of the evidence because he was concerned about contaminating the jury pool. The standard reason for issuing gag, or “protective,” orders is to protect a person’s right to a fair trial. Considering the extent to which Waco officials, particularly Waco police propagandist W. Patrick Swanton, have already prejudiced most of the world against the defendants in this case, Johnson’s argument seems absurd.
There is no certainty that the gag order will eventually be overturned but it seems likely that it will be.
Gag orders oppose the people’s right to know and in numerous cases they are opposed by large and rich news gathering organizations like The Associated Press but in this case, the AP has already seen the video Broden subpoenaed this morning and publically described it. Since a case titled Nebraska Press Ass’n v. Stuart, courts have been forbidden from restraining what the press may say or to whom it may talk. But only the lawyers in Waco are being restrained. Restrictions on lawyer speech are usually justified by the claim that attorneys are officers of the court and thus are more subject to court-imposed limits to preserve the “fairness” of a trial.
A Tale Of Two Reynas
Next the Twin Peaks video will be “discovered” to every other lawyer in the case and all of those lawyers will be subject to the same gag order the judge issued this morning. When that happens, coverage of the Twin Peaks Massacre will, for all practical purposes, cease.
The constitutionality of gag orders is unresolved and subject to considerable debate. Constitutional scholar Erwin Chemerinsky has argued that defense lawyers should be no more subject to gag orders than the press is. In court this morning, Broden offered Judge Johnson a cogent and ironic argument against the gag order imposed on him.
Broden cited a March 2007 by Texas 10th Court of Appeals that said a similar gag order issued by state district Judge Reva Towslee-Corbett was overly broad and was “a clear abuse of discretion.” The author of that decision was Judge Felipe Reyna. Reyna found that Towslee-Corbett’s gag order was a prior restraint of free speech that is “presumptively unconstitutional,” without specific evidence that the gag was necessary to prevent “imminent and irreparable” harm to the outcome of the trial and without proof that the gag order was the “least restrictive means” to prevent that harm. Judge Reyna is the father of the McLennan County District Attorney who requested and got this morning’s order against Broden.
“Yeah nobody should have an opinion on the Constitution except those approved by the government to have an opinion.”
I tried to have a discussion about the constitution and Waco with don-o and others but they all ran away from the constitution.
Just shout “constitution”! Sorry, that does not cut it.
From your link:
“Two days after the shooting, a Twin Peaks waitress posted this comment to Facebook: “There are always fights on bike nights, so we expected the usual. “
Troll bullshit. It’s all over these thread.
.
You know that they have lost their case when they rely on gag orders.
Reality will surface!
.
Just found this by a person that the article cites.
From my experience that is the rule at TP restaurants. Even that I noticed it is surprising but it really stood out but makes perfect sense, where else would a biker rather be but hanging with his buddies watching boobies and drinking beer.
My guess, considering the regimented infrastructure of the biker groups, is they generally keep a lid on public behavior by their members. Cops letting them run their own business unless it spills out into the street is the least path of resistance trying to avoid this kind of thing. Just human nature until someone says “I’ve had all I can stands and I can’t stands no more”(popeye).
So therefor anyone who has issues with what happened is questionable?
Sorry, that doesn’t cut it.
“So therefor anyone who has issues with what happened is questionable? Sorry, that doesn’t cut it.”
That is not what I said.
“My guess, considering the regimented infrastructure of the biker groups, is they generally keep a lid on public behavior by their members”
From what I heard it was the Bandidos dude that keeps the order that was involved in the initial punches and shooting.
Under the same "rule of law," the financial and professional lives of at least 150 peaceful, law-abiding Americans were DESTROYED within 48 hours -- they were punished harshly and permanently by the "law" without actual evidence and without the benefit of a trial. It is TOO LATE NOW to put those people back to rights. The damage has been done.
Each one of those people arrested, no matter how innocent, now has a very serious arrest-charge "history"that will follow them for the rest of their lives on every job application or background check.
Those arrested simply for being present were, "under the rule of law," held hostage and prevented from returning to work, paying their bills, meeting their personal and professional obligations, for at least two weeks -- and were forced to pay thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars, to return to their "normal" lives.
"Civil servants" meted this very harsh punishment that caused permanent harm to peaceful, law-abiding civilians at Twin Peaks that day. Yet those "civil servants" can defer or prevent punishment to themselves using the same "rule of law" that they DENIED the citizens they are supposed to be serving.
Waco indicates that in America, civil servants have far superior "rights" than citizens in the courts and on the streets.
Waco was a throwing down of the gauntlet.
Well, nobody is perfect...
You anecdotal observations are not statistically relevant.
But wait: you say you drove past every single TP every day over a period of time and observed the number of motorcycle gang members in the parking lots, and collated your findings in an Excel file?
Good, then you may have the first inklings of statistical relevance.
With respect, YOU can afford to wait. Had it been you at one of the tables in Twin Peaks that day, and you suddenly found yourself held hostage and prevented from going home, going to your job, paying bills, meeting obligations of career and personal nature, and then had to pay THOUSANDS of dollars at least to go home after at least two weeks, plus pay hundreds of dollars to wear an ankle monitor even though you had no record of prior arrest --
-- well, I guess you would also have all the time in the world to "wait for the justice system to run its course" because your financial and professional life would already have been damaged beyond repair, and any monetary settlement "justice" may mete to compensate for your suffering, is MANY MANY YEARS AWAY.
This thing at Waco was BLATANT in its contempt for due process and the rights of citizens assembled at a political meeting -- THAT is exactly what this was. It's not a matter of opinion, it's a matter of FACT. reasonably established after independent due diligence and application of common sense.
That the writers of news reports FAIL to present this event in its complete context, is a very sad fact as well.
Studying individual burning trees, failing to notice that the entire forest is on fire.
Good post
Excuse me, YES, in the basic essentials, they ARE "in." They are visible to anyone who cares to do due diligence using reliable resources at hand plus the application of critical thinking and common sense. To wit: 117 motorcycle enthusiasts legally assembled at the site of a political meeting and with ZERO criminal records of arrests, let alone convictions, had their lives destroyed by police.
With respect, you seem to confuse "the knowledge and the facts" to have worked their slow, political, manipulated ways through the legal system of courts, attorneys, and judges, as "not being in and won't be for months." In the world of civil servants, you're correct, the "facts are not yet in."
But in the real world of citizens, particularly the uniquely American demographic of biker clubs/fellowships, enough facts are in to reveal an ugly future ahead.
Thanks.
Finny, kudos to you and don-o on this and your many other informative and insightful comments on this matter.
Thank you so very kindly. I am in the company of many good FReepers.
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.