Bikers still in jail after shootout
WACO, Texas — When her husband was arrested after a shootout at a biker club gathering at a Twin Peaks restaurant on May 17, Sheree Clendennen figured security camera video would soon clear him.
“At first I just thought they’re going to take all these guys, look at the video, see who’s innocent and let all these guys go,” said Clendennen, 29, of nearby Hewitt.
“Then week two it was like, ‘Oh my gosh — they’re not letting people go. They don’t care what’s on the video,’ ” she said of police, “With all of the security cameras and all of them out in the parking lot watching what went on, there is no reason all of these guys should have been held so long.”
But 17 days later, of the 177 people arrested in connection with the shooting that killed nine and wounded more than a dozen, 143 remain jailed this week, many on $1 million bond.
Some face at least a monthlong wait for a bond-reduction hearing, and attorneys say it’s unlikely their clients will post bail. They have been arraigned but have not been formally charged.
Prosecutors have 90 days to present a case to indict to a grand jury before those in custody are entitled to reduced bonds.
The bikers were arrested on allegations of engaging in organized crime, but none have been specifically charged in the shootings, and the investigation is ongoing this week, according to Waco police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton.
Several police officers who fired their weapons at the scene have been placed on administrative leave pending a separate, ongoing investigation, Swanton said.
The delays in prosecuting those at the scene of the shooting have triggered legal complaints and controversy, including a hearing last week about whether two state district judges should recuse themselves in the matter.
“It’s unprecedented, this wholesale roundup of people,” said F. Clinton Broden, a Dallas attorney who represents Matthew Clendennen.
“It seems like something out of ‘Casablanca’ — just round everybody up. You’re arresting people for being at the scene of a crime. It’s scary that this can happen in America.”
Amy Kuzniarek, a spokeswoman for the McLennan County district attorney’s office, said “this is an open, active criminal case and an ongoing investigation, therefore our office cannot and will not comment.”
Clendennen, who does not have a criminal record, is a landscaper, father of four, former firefighter and member of the Scimitars motorcycle club. He recently filed a complaint with the State Commission on Judicial Conduct against the justice of the peace who arraigned him and a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city of Waco, McLennan County and prosecutors, alleging that he was wrongfully arrested and detained.
In his complaints, Clendennen claims McLennan County Justice of the Peace Walter “Pete” Peterson said at arraignment that he gave bikers a $1 million bond “to send a message” and that District Attorney Abel Reyna created “fill-in-theblank” arrest warrants without probable cause, alleging that the bikers were not cooperating and were therefore not victims.
Peterson and Reyna made similar comments to Tribune Newspapers.
Peterson declined to comment.
Broden said his client did cooperate, but that even if he didn’t, “That’s his Fifth Amendment right, he got Mirandized.”
As for Clendennen’s arrest, Broden said that “there’s got to be individual probable cause. They’ve got the tapes of the scene, there’s no reason they can’t be reviewed to make determinations. You just can’t keep bystanders locked up because you don’t know who did the shooting.”
He noted that some bond reduction hearings have not been scheduled until late July.
“My guess is the Department of Justice is going to have to come in at some point. It does not seem the local people are competent to handle this in a constitutional matter,” Broden said.