Civil Rights Suit Filed on Behalf of Bikers
Bikers involved in the Waco motorcycle gang remain jailed, and an Austin attorney has filed a petition on their behalf. Keith Hampton has made it clear that he is not representing any of the accused, but he felt compelled to come to the aid of the 144 bikers who have been held in jail for close to 20 days without a bond hearing.
The incident involving the bikers occurred on May 17. A total of 176 people were arrested at Twin Peaks in Waco. The shootout left nine people dead.
Says Mindy Milford, Austin Criminal Attorney, “Here we are, this many weeks out later, and you’ve still got 144 people incarcerated without a hearing and it sounds like some of these hearing have even been set out a month from now.”
The original bail amount for each of the 144 people that still remain in jail was set at $1 million.
Former firefighter Matthew Clendennen told FOX 4 in Dallas that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. While he is a biker, he is not a gang member. He sat in jail for 17 days before he was given a bond hearing.
According to Hampton, it is not beyond the realm of possibility to believe that many of the 144 others are just like Clendennen.
Unfortunately for those that were arrested as a result of the incident, there are simply too many hearings and not enough judges. Hampton says the answer to that is simple, and it is one that he has proposed to the higher court: appoint special prosecutors and judges to handle the overload. More specifically, to handle cases of this magnitude in a way that is fair to those involved.
With appointed judges and prosecutors, each of those arrested could be seen within 10 days.
A separate civil rights law suit has been filed on Clendennen’s behalf by his own attorney.