Comments on: 143 Texas bikers in jail

By: En Passant

En Passant — Wed, 10 Jun 2015 17:59:17 +0000

In reply to VMS.

When there are wholesale arrests, where some arrested may have had no connection to the crime, the prosecution’s job becomes very difficult.

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:

Justice of the Peace W.H. “Pete” Peterson set bonds for 174 gang members charged with engaging in organized criminal activity at $1 million each.

“I think it is important to send a message,” Peterson said. “We had nine people killed in our community. These people just came in, and most of them were from out of town. Very few of them were from in town.”

Yep. Pete sent a message loud and clear: Better not to be in Waco if you’re from out of town.

By: Bill Poser

Bill Poser — Wed, 10 Jun 2015 17:25:52 +0000

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?

By: KDP

KDP — Wed, 10 Jun 2015 14:42:23 +0000

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”.

By: VMS

VMS — Wed, 10 Jun 2015 12:20:15 +0000

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.