Huge lawsuit as result of the Waco Texas mass biker arrests.

[dixiegrrrrl]

Recap: the Waco police arrested 170 people, supposedly all bikers involved in a shooting in a restaurant parking lot.

turns out, many of those arrested were not involved in the shooting, were not in the area of the shooting.
But they ALL had the same arrest warrants, and had their bikes taken by the police, and ALL arrest warrants asked for one million in bail.
And ALL the warrants were signed by a local Justice of the Peace who had NO legal training.

One guy is suing the cops for false arrest, and damages.
The lawsuit details are quite revealing, and serve to point out police over reach.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/267040628/Matthew-Clendennen-v-City-of-Waco

News source:
In the suit, "Chavez is accused of signing a "fill in the name" warrant he knew lacked individual probable cause and deceiving the Justice of the Peace who signed the criminal complaint. The City of Waco and McLennan county are accused of "caus[ing] the arrest and detention of numerous individuals...regardless of whether or not there was individualized probable cause to arrest and detain a particular individual."http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Biker-Sues-Waco-McLennan-County-Alleges-Unconstitutional-Arrest-Detention-305521171.html

[Glassunion]

1. The Police® would never do such a thing.

[rocktivity]

2. I love the smell of vindication in the morning

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=1099940


rocktivity

[jwirr]

3. Just one guy is suing?

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. So far, but his lawsuit details and list of violations is big.

The cops held 170 people for weeks, were threatening to hold them until August, with no bail hearing, AND confiscated their bikes and other possessions.
The guy who is suing has a marvelous template for the other guys to use.
It may not apply to any of the 9 or so who were said to be actually involved in the shooting, but that still leaves 160 others.

[jwirr]

5. Looks like that city is in big trouble. On the other hand I once ended up standing between a clan

fight on the reservation and at the time the police may have had no other way to stop it. BUT they did not have to carry through on detaining them. I would have let a few go everyday so that the fight would not have started again.

In my fight no one called the cops just threw the injured into cars and took them to the hospital - where I was asked to identify sides so they could all be separated. Ah for the good old days.