The Legendary:
The Executive Director of the Texas ACLU locked horns with Waco Police.
Terri Burke accused the cops of holding many of the more than 170 defendants arrested following a mass shooting melee at Twin Peaks Restaurant in Waco without charges.
“Based on news reports, many of these bikers remain jailed without charges, bonds set, or arraignments,” said Terri Burke. Texas rules of criminal procedure prohibit jailing a defendant for more than 48 hours without being charged by a Magistrate and advised of the rights of a person so accused.
In decrying “overzealous and abusive police work,” she called the mass arrest of more than 170 persons unfair, because “if any of the more than 170 arrests were based solely on membership in a group, the Constitution demands more, including probable cause.”
“We call on the Waco Police Department to release a detailed report on what triggered their response, the rationale for detaining such a large number of these bikers, and the reasons for keeping many of them locked up without charge.”
According to Deanne Katz, Esq., “If the prosecutor doesn’t bring charges within the time limit then the police have to let you go. Failure to do that is a violation of your rights.” He added that, once released from custody without having been charged, further prosecution stemming from the aborted investigation is thereby barred.
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a commenter at the original post puts it well:
Major Richard M. Cole, USAF (Ret.) says:
So, as of today, June 10, the Waco bikers still detained have been in the county jail for 24 days and the Texas ACLU has finally shown up to the fight? Where have you been while more than 170 people’s First, Second, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights are violated. (Note to self, stop my charitable support of ACLU.)
