Some of the 143 jailed bikers no doubt played a guilty role in a spectacular motorcycle club shootout that left nine dead at the Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco. Some say they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, including a 30 year old volunteer firefighter who says he has no criminal record and tried to hide during the violence. In either event, no one important seems to care, although some defense-lawyer and civil-liberties types grouse about an “unprecedented…wholesale roundup of people” for “being at the scene of a crime” under a principle of “Let’s arrest them all and sort it out later.” Bail for many has been set at a prohibitive $1 million apiece, and no formal charges have been brought. “Under Texas law, a grand jury has 90 days to indict those in custody before they are entitled to reduced bonds.” Police say they consider the matter to be one of organized crime and that an investigation is ongoing. [Molly Hennessy-Fiske, L.A. Times] More: Scott Greenfield. Update: Texas Tribune (bail process crawls forward, more commentators raising questions about process).
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When there are wholesale arrests, where some arrested may have had no connection to the crime, the prosecution’s job becomes very difficult. A defense attorney can easily cast reasonable doubt by pointing to all the arrests made, and claim that the police had no idea who actually did the shooting.
Not nearly so difficult as the “job” of a defendant who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Arrestees are being held on a million dollar bond, with no court appearance until August. Many have lost jobs because of the mass arrest.
In TX, the office of Justice of the Peace is elected, on a partisan ballot. They are not required to be lawyers.
The money quote from the JP who set bond, according to the Waco Tribune, May 18, 2015:
Yep. Pete sent a message loud and clear: Better not to be in Waco if you’re from out of town.
Don’t forget to add in a little prejudice due to popular cultural views of anyone who rides a motorcycle, c.f. “The Wild Ones”.
How can someone have been arraigned but not “formally charged”? By definition arraignment is the reading of the charges to the prisoner. Is there something unusual about the Texas system? And can it be constitutional to hold prisoners for over a month without charging them?