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| District Attorney Abel Reyna |
Said
State Criminal District Judge Ralph T. Strother, “...in my legal
career I have never seen a situation quite like this,” as he
ordered legal staff and the top brass of the Waco Police Department
to come to a decision whether to release the information to
prosecutors by 5 p.m. on Monday.
The
judge answered the objections of the prosecutor this way.
“I
know, and that's the issue I'm about to address,” he told First
Assistant Prosecutor Michael Jarrett as he ruled that a defense
attorney representing one of the defendants cannot know the name of
the confidential informants. “That certainty is the rule, and I
have not been able to find a single case that ever dealt with
that...”
He
further noted that in his career as a criminal prosecutor, “When I
stepped into the courtroom, I always wanted to know everything there
was to know.”
WendiGail Baskin, who also has two drug cases pending, is facing theindictment along with Delvin Maddison, a man who has been convictedof drug offenses and cases of assault numerous times in his life.(click here for a previous report)
Five
other defendants are all charged on the same Waco police case number
involving extortion of motor vehicles from persons presumably
involved as customers in drug sales.
Mr.Maddison has figured in social media news stories lately in which hehas vigorously defended his innocence against allegations that he wasinvolved in an arson attack on a Bosqueville woman named Ashley DawnRogers and her three children that cost her life and those of two ofher children. (click here for a previous report)
A third child was rescued by a neighbor as the fire suddenly engulfed the trailer house located on N. 18th Street near the Brazos River. Reported at 6:30 p.m. on a chill February night in 2012, the dwelling was totally involved in flames when firefighters arrived only minutes later.
A third child was rescued by a neighbor as the fire suddenly engulfed the trailer house located on N. 18th Street near the Brazos River. Reported at 6:30 p.m. on a chill February night in 2012, the dwelling was totally involved in flames when firefighters arrived only minutes later.
“I'm
not even sure the statute or the rules of evidence, whether the
privilege exists,” the judge added in regard to withholding the
names from the prosecution. He did note, however, that prosecutors
have the right to decline prosecution under the indictments if they
so choose.
Though
the informants provided information, none of it concerned
participation in providing information that dealt with the legality
of providing the information, or that dealt with the legality of
obtaining the evidence, the judge said, according to a court
reporter's transcript reprinted on District Attorney Abel Reyna's
Facebook page.
Mr.
Reyna leveled harsh criticism at Waco Tribune-Herald courthouse
reporter Tommy Witherspoon's account of the hearing, which was held
last Friday. In that hearing, an attorney for the City of Waco argued
that a possible leak in the DA's office caused the police to object
to release of the names of the informants. Mr. Reyna responded by
noting on his Facebook page:
The
newspaper staff, “in an effort to sell papers, has reported
inaccurate and misleading information about the McLennan County
District Attorney's office and an implied 'leak' in our office. I can
assure everyone that there is no 'leak' in our office. The Waco Trib
has taken an outdated issue and failed to report it accurately, and
worse, withheld pertinent information to the story. This can hardly
be considered journalism...”
He
noted that the employee who was accused of leaking information
resigned her position last spring over an unrelated matter.
JudgeStrother said, “I do think there is a real legitimate concern regarding the safety and welfare of the confidential informants.”(One may read a previous report by clicking here)
