Effort to remove prosecutor could delay Waco shoot out trial

Defense attorney Abigale Anastasio walked out of the McLennan County Courthouse shortly before noon Tuesday morning. She was returning from the district court clerk's office where she filed this motion to have the county's top prosecutors thrown off her case for committing what she claims was a fatal flaw.

"This is an extra ordinary case, there's been nothing like it that I've seen, and so extraordinary circumstances call for extra ordinary motions."

Anastasio represents one of more than 170 people arrested after a shootout involving rival motorcycle gangs last year. The incident at Waco's Twin Peaks restaurant left nine people dead and 23  injured.
 
Court documents, obtained by FOX 7, seem to indicate that McLennan County D.A. Abel Reyna took over the investigation from police last year. According to an investigator, Reyna and his top two aides directed anyone associated with the Bandidos or Cossacks biker gangs to be charged with engaging in organized crime. When the trials begin, it's argued the D.A. and his staff could be potential witnesses for defense attorneys to cross examin in court.

"I'm not saying anything malicious  was done I'm just saying it was misguided," said Anastasio. 

The motion could delay every pending case. Defense attorneys, like Paul Looney, say they are already frustrated by the slow pace of the legal process.

"This here is completely unamerican, we don't act that way, we don't lock them up first and sort it out second," said Looney.

The Twin Peaks restaurant remains closed and the only people in the parking lot were police, providing security.

The site remains off limits but the daughter and friend of a Cossack who was killed during the melee were among those who traved to Waco for the anniversary. They brought flowers to a makeshift memorial that also included several plastic skulls placed on stakes. 

Earlier Tuesday, members of the national council of clubs met in Round Rock. They marked the anniversary by denouncing  what they claim is an ongoing problem of profiling and harassment.

"You can't arrest everybody that's just at the scene of a crime, no matter who perpetrated, no matter who started it, whether law enforcement instigated it, all those issues we don't know today," said motorcycle advocate and attorney Brent Coon.

Specific details will remain guarded until the trials begin because everyone involved is under a gag order.