3 Weeks After Deadly Waco Shootout, Questions Mount for Bikers Still in Jail

Originally published by Androvett Legal Media Blog.

More than two weeks after the deadly biker gang-related shooting at the Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco, a majority of the 177 arrested remain in jail with bail set at $1 million.Concerns about due process have risen to the point that the presiding administrative judge for Texas’ Third Judicial District, Billy Ray Stubblefield, expects to travel to Waco this week to meet with two district judges and brainstorm about ways to accelerate the bond hearings for more than 130 jailed bikers.

• Writes Texas Lawyer: “Before his trip, retired District Judge Billy Ray Stubblefield, who still presides as administrative judge for the Third Judicial District, expressed disappointment about the weeks it has taken for the Waco courts to conduct bond hearings for the majority of the bikers. ‘Due process delayed is due process denied,’ Stubblefield said. ‘I would have been happier if this had been able to be accomplished more rapidly.’”
• Writes Dallas Morning News in a lead editorial this morning: “Three weeks have passed since the biker gang shootout in Waco that left nine dead and 18 wounded. Yet surprisingly little information has emerged to justify the incarceration of about 120 people, many of whom appear guilty only of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Without question, egregious criminal activity occurred outside the Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco. Some bikers, mainly from the rival Bandidos and Cossacks gangs, appear to have arrived at the restaurant armed and ready to do battle.”

Dallas criminal defense attorney John Teakell of The Law Offices of John R. Teakell notes that police, prosecutors and judges are bound by the U.S. Constitution to ensure that there was sufficient probable cause for each individual arrest. The accused also must be promptly notified of the charges against them and bail amounts must not be set excessively high as a form of punishment.

“This was a horrific shooting and a fluid crime scene,” says Teakell, a former state and federal prosecutor. “But after more than two weeks, there is a real concern that innocent individuals remain in jail, awaiting a reasonable bail amount and a chance to know the charges against them so that they can defend themselves.”

Curated by Texas Bar Today. Follow us on Twitter @texasbartoday.

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