Posted on 10/11/2017 9:51:09 AM PDT by Elderberry
Tribune-Herald staff writer Tommy Witherspoon is live-tweeting from inside the courtroom in the trial of Jacob Carrizal, the first biker to be prosecuted for his alleged role in the May 17, 2015, Twin Peaks shootout.
Jury selection is underway, and opening statements are expected to be given this afternoon.
Nine people were killed and dozens injured in the melee between rival biker groups the Bandidos and Cossacks.
The judge and attorneys are talking to prospective jurors individually now. These are the ones who asked not to speak publicly about issues.
The judge is talking to the parties in chambers. They might begin calling in potential jurors who didn't want to talk about issues in public
Her last question: "Will each of you promise to give Jake Carrizal the fair trial he deserves and has been waiting so long to get?"
Gotro is asking each of the 145 or so on the panel if they will follow the law.
Gotro said a jury is allowed to disregard evidence if it finds the evidence was illegally obtained.
Gotro is asking the panel about items searched and seized without probable cause.
The gun discussion is ongoing. Gotro has really got the panel talking now, with comments on all sides of the issue.
Many say there are too many guns but they aren't comfortable with the government seizing guns from lawful owners.
Now she's got the panel in a 2nd Amendment discussion, asking if there are too many guns and if they fear the government will take them.
Gotro is saying that "technicalities" that people often chide defense attorneys for exploiting are actually important constitutional rights.
Gotro asked why someone would lie to a police officer.
Gotro is talking about the unreliability of eyewitness testimony and reasons why it can be flawed. One juror said Twin Peaks served alcohol.
Gotro is warning jurors against what she called confirmation bias, having formed an opinion and only listening to evidence that supports it.
She is asking if witnesses, including police officers, always tell the truth. One juror said it is unlikely a police officer would lie
Gotro is picking up her voir dire where she left off Tuesday evening. She is asking why defendants might not take the stand.
The parties have agreed to proceed without the missing juror, but the judge ordered deputies to continue looking for him to execute the writ
The judge told the panel that we can't proceed at this time and recessed the proceedings actually before they started.
The judge issued a writ of attachment for a no-show juror and the judge is recessing the panel until he is located.
Stay tuned. There is never a dull moment around here and you never know what is going to happen next. But you can bet it won't be ordinary.
The jury panel is coming in now and defense attorney Casie Gotro will continue her voir dire examination of the panel.
Gotro asked when he last worked undercover with biker gangs and the agent looked to Reyna and asked if it was OK to answer. 11:25 AM - 12 Oct 2017
The parties retreated to the judge's chambers to discuss it. 11:26 AM - 12 Oct 2017
He said the last time he infiltrated a gang was with the Mongols in 2008. 11:28 AM - 12 Oct 2017
He has not infiltrated the Bandidos but worked surveillance on the Bandidos in Calif. in 2002. 11:30 AM - 12 Oct 2017
He said Bandidos membership is always changing and he has not seen a report listing the number of its membership. 11:32 AM - 12 Oct 2017
Very, ver.y interesting read about the “Koz”
1947?
“Unfortunately there are some on here that believe that all motorcycle clubs are gangs”
Unfortunately there are some here that defend the gangsters.
Which gang are you in?
She asked if a biker wearing a three-piece patch and a 1 percenter diamond is a member of a criminal street gang. 11:41 AM - 12 Oct 2017
He answered more likely than not, but he would have to investigate further. 11:42 AM - 12 Oct 2017
He said he has heard that the Bandido patch "Expect No Mercy" means the wearer has committed an act of violence for the gang. 11:50 AM - 12 Oct 2017
Gotro asked if it couldn't mean expect no mercy from a society that judges bikers by their appearance and assumes they are criminals. 11:51 AM - 12 Oct 2017
Kozlowski said it behooves bikers wearing such patches to come up with alternative meanings for them because they know police see them. 11:53 AM - 12 Oct 2017
Gotro asked if many of the same rules and expectations that govern membership and behavior for gangs can apply to law enforcement agencies. 11:58 AM - 12 Oct 2017
He agreed. 11:58 AM - 12 Oct 2017
It's time for lunch break. Back at 1:15 11:59 AM - 12 Oct 2017
You are too much personally involved in this gang war. Why?
I would gladly turn the posting over to you, but you've never ever posted a single article.
He said any member of a 1 percent outlaw motorcycle gang is involved regularly in criminal activity. 1:22 PM - 12 Oct 2017
Looking at the slide for OMG protocols and behaviors, Kozlowski is agreeing with Gotro that many of those characteristics could be applied to other groups, including law enforcement.
Gotro said the agent is making some big assumptions just by virtue of members wearing a patch. 1:30 PM - 12 Oct 2017
Kozlowski said he doesn't think the TV show Sons of Anarchy is not necessarily realistic in terms of what he knows from his undercover time 1:33 PM - 12 Oct 2017
He said parts are realistic, but not necessarily the story lines. 1:33 PM - 12 Oct 2017
I count that as a duck ...
“Kozlowski said he doesn’t think the TV show Sons of Anarchy is not necessarily realistic”
Double negative?
He said for now it does, saying that could change for members of criminal street gangs. 1:41 PM - 12 Oct 2017
After an objection from Reyna to line of questioning, the parties are meeting in the judge's chambers.
They are back. Kozlowski said the patches are not evidence of a crime but those who wear them are members of a gang, which commits crimes 1:54 PM - 12 Oct 2017
He said it depends on who is wearing the patch but if you wear the patch as a member of a gang, you may be called upon to commit a crime. 1:55 PM - 12 Oct 2017
He said he has seen gangs contact police to let them know they are riding into town. 1:56 PM - 12 Oct 2017
"It seems kind of nonsensical to call law enforcement and let the know you are coming into town to commit a crime, doesn't it?" Gotro asked.
He said they are calling as a "facade," not to say they are coming to commit crimes.
Gotro asked why the agent calls the support groups gangs. He said they are dictated to by the dominating gang. 2:02 PM - 12 Oct 2017
Gotro passed the witness. Reyna is on redirect. 2:03 PM - 12 Oct 2017
Kozlowski said again that Bandidos are a criminal street gang. He is done. Next witness. 2:05 PM - 12 Oct 2017
Gotro again is challenging the expert witness designation of Douglas Pearson, a police officer in Colorado and a member of an ATF task force 2:13 PM - 12 Oct 2017
The judge overruled the objection. Douglas will testify in front of the jury after a break. 2:23 PM - 12 Oct 2017
She said Carrizal, 36, was not involved in that and was not a Bandido when it occurred. She said it would be prejudicial to allow it in. 2:43 PM - 12 Oct 2017
The judge is reviewing a case presented to him by the state before ruling. 2:45 PM - 12 Oct 2017
The judge called the parties into his chambers for a conference. 2:50 PM - 12 Oct 2017
Gotro agrees, but said the state didn't go far enough, requesting other slides be removed, as well.
They are still going over the slide show photos and deciding which to remove before Pearson testifies.
Quite a few are ending up on the editing room floor.
The wrangling continues over the power point items. The jury has been out of the courtroom for about an hour.
The jury is coming in. The judge warned parties that with future experts, these matters need to be worked it in advance.
"I'm not going to keep the jury waiting like this again," the judge said. "I'm just going to start sustaining objections."
Pearson, an Air Force veteran, has been in law enforcement 26 years and is assigned to ATF as a task force officer investigating OMGS.
He has attended major motorcycle rallies in South Dakota and other states as part of his duties. He is a law enforcement instructor.
He has testified in state and federal court as an expert witness. He has debriefed Bandidos and spoken to numerous active gang members. 4:04 PM - 12 Oct 2017
He has heard? Is that evidence? Or hearsay?
Gotro asked if many of the same rules and expectations that govern membership and behavior for gangs can apply to law enforcement agencies. 11:58 AM - 12 Oct 2017
He agreed. 11:58 AM - 12 Oct 2017
LOL!
You are too much personally involved in this corrupt law enforcement. Why?
That question was not to you.
1
I know why YOU cater to gangs.
You do? Why? And define "cater". Take your time.
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