Posted on 11/12/2015 5:57:51 AM PST by Elderberry
The day after dozens of bikers were indicted after a deadly brawl in Waco, many of them are likely to be considering making a deal, experts said, potentially giving up their biker brothers when faced with a long prison sentence.
Prosecutors in McLellan County indicted 106 bikers on Tuesday on charges of engaging in organized criminal activity, some six months after a melee at a Twin Peaks that left nine dead and at least 18 wounded. If convicted, they face the prospect of 15 years to life.
Many of the bikers indicted likely didn't throw a punch or fire a shot during the incident. But once one domino falls _ and someone agrees to cooperate by sharing inside information _ the landscape could shift dramatically for some, said Geoffrey Corn, a professor at South Texas College of Law, in Houston.
Prosecutors have still not revealed what specifically they believe each of the person charged did that May 17 afternoon, as well as who among them are directly responsible for the deaths and injuries.
Authorities have also declined to reveal who among them was shot by Waco Police, although authorities have said officers fired their weapons to save their own lives or those of others.
So far, 106 of the 177 people arrested that Sunday afternoon have been indicted. McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna said the grand jury continues looking at the case, which involved a clash between the Bandidos Motorcycle Club and the Cossacks Motorcycle Club.
"This is just the beginning of an ongoing, continuing investigation," he said Wednesday. "Eventually all 177 cases will be put before the (grand jury.)"
Securing an indictment sends a message that they are pushing ahead with the case and grand jurors agree there is probable cause the law was broken.
"One of the advantages of an indictment is you have ratcheted up the pressure on the targets," said Corn, the law professor. "All you need is one or two of them to come in and cooperate and agree to testify about how this was a plan to protect turf."
And discussions are most certainly happening behind the scenes, he said.
"If you are a defense lawyer, you are talking to your client saying, 'now this is getting real, we need to think about some of the options here,'" he said. "If I'm the (district attorney) it is a race to the door and I'm going to reward whoever shows up first."
Still, there are no guarantees anyone will take a deal, he said.
The Bandidos are seen as an especially insular group, where loyalty is everything and getting a member to turn his back on the club would be tough, according to those who have studied outlaw bikers.
"You might have guys who circle the wagons and say, our strength is in numbers," Corn said.
Larry Karson, an assistant professor of criminal justice at the University of Houston Downtown said prosecutors benefit from defendants feeling the pressure.
The indictment and hefty potential penalty amount to leverage for prosecutors, he said.
"The heavier the potential sentence, the greater the leverage," he said, nothing that even innocent people have pleaded guilty in cases in order to avoid doing major time.
"If you have somebody who rolls, you have inside information," said Karson, who is a retired Customs Service agent.Karson stressed that just because the people were indicted, does not mean there is enough evidence to convict them at trial.
"In Texas the grand jury is a marionette of the district attorney, basically having their strings pulled to do his bidding," he said. "The district attorney chooses what evidence is and isn't presented to the grand jury with no challenge from those being prosecuted."
Houston lawyer Paul Looney, who is representing a former member of the Cossacks, agreed that for some of the people charged, the pressure is on.
"The reality is that clients who don't have a lot of confidence in their lawyer panic early," he said. Several defendants have lawyers who they had not met before and did not hire, but were court appointed, he said.
"They have no relationship," Looney said. "And it stands to reason those people are going to be under a lot of pressure."
We still don’t know how many of the deceased were killed by cops, do we?
My bet is all of them.
Follow the money
" as well as who among them are directly responsible for the deaths and injuries. " No LEOs were directly responsible for deaths?
"...officers fired their weapons to save their own lives..." That will be interesting to see proven for any LEO besides the undercover ones.
“...Authorities have also declined to reveal who among them was shot by Waco Police, although authorities have said officers fired their weapons to save their own lives or those of others....”
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So the “authorities” are claiming that they killed people to “save their own lives or those of others”. It will be VERY interesting to review the videos to see which lives were “saved” exactly. My guess is that NO LIVES WERE SAVED, LIVES WERE ONLY TAKEN.
Writer clearly does not understand the world of MC clubs. Will some one roll over, probably but they would be better off doing the time not looking over their shoulder.
Cut police budgets down and close down jails. With crime down who else will they come after to justify their budgets? What kind of limited govt types want to have more cops and jails? Never made sense to me.
Do we know that there were any undercover ones? The Waco PD is on record that all of their officers were in cars when the shooting started.
I thought there were pics of at least one guy wearing “colors”, still armed, talking to uniformed LEOs after the action as opposed to be sitting on the curb in cuffs.
Snitches get stitches or worse. My understanding is that motorcycle 1%ers like these guys won’t snitch to make a deal out of fear of being whacked by fellow bikers. They will take the “dime” and do the time...of course they are running a criminal enterprise...that’s what motorcycle clubs like this do to sustain themselves...but proving it in court is another matter.
Freegards
LEX
The “Red Boots” guy.
There's a pic of a guy in plain clothes holding a rifle and wearing body armor. I don't think he's wearing "colors" and it seems it would be hard for him to blend in strolling around the patio with a rifle and bulletproof vest.
The speculation about him being undercover and involved is just that - speculation - and in my view it doesn't hold up.
I also think it very unlikely that the Waco PD would issue a press release stating something that would surely be dis-proven in short order once cases start going to trial.
Have ballistics findings been released, or is that also covered under the gag order?
As an aside, seems I’d read somewhere (I could be mistaken) that these grand juries are handpicked retired judges and former prosecutors - anyone know anything about that?
No.
All should exercise their rights and demand a jury trial.
Jury trials and discovery will tell us.
In one of the photos that includes red boots, there is a fat guy wearing a MC club vest, fixed blade knife (I’d guess 6 or 7 inch blade) prominently visible hanging from his belt. He’s talking to a fat cop who is holding an assault rifle, and red boots is holding an assault rifle. The scene does not appear to be one where red boots and the fat cop are demanding submission of the fat biker.
That said, "random" selection, supervised by judges, is NOT random. A judge can dismiss any prospective grand juror, using a pretext.
Disastrous case. Reasonable doubt will be pooling on the floor, with each defendant able to draw a dozen or dozens of alibi or affirmative defense witnesses.
I certainly favor finding and convicting the murderers in this case, but they should be going after all of them, not just the guys wearing motorcycle club uniforms and giving a pass to those wearing law enforcement uniforms. Blackmailing clearly innocent bystanders is a tyranny of justice, but that is exactly what is going on.
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