F. Clinton Broden and Julissa West following her ouster from the stand
STORY BY: Legendary Jim
REPORTING BY: Jane Carter
Waco – The hearing was over before you knew it had begun.
As Julissa West took her place and introduced herself on the witness stand, F. Clinton Broden asked her if she knows Amanda Dillon, an assistant prosecutor on the case against former Scimitar Matt Clendennen.
When she said yes, he asked her what she had learned from Ms. Dillon, and the state’s attorney objected as to hearsay. The judge allowed the questioning to proceed, but when he heard that Ms. Dillon told Reyna’s former staffer something, he cut her off, saying, “You may step down.”
When she turned to question him, Judge Doug Shaver, a senior visiting judge from Houston, said, “Get down! You’re through.”
When the attorney tried to interject, Judge Shaver said, “This is ridiculous! The motion is granted.”
With that, the 11th hour motion entered by elected Criminal District Attorney Abel Reyna to quash subpoenas for a host of very important witnesses including Ms. Dillon, lead prosecutor Michael Jarrett, 19th Criminal District Court Judge Ralph T. Strother, former First Assistant District Attorney Greg Davis, and others was granted, and the hearing into the allegations of political opportunism, evidence tampering, and withholding exculpatory evidence by the DA was all over.
The judge determined that pre-trial motions may be presented by the three special prosecutors he appointed, all experienced trial lawyers from his home jurisdiction in Houston, on March 5 and 6. April is targeted for the trial of Matt Clendennen.
One may see a Youtube interview with a former legal assistant who, like Julissa West, worked in the law office of the partnership of Reyna and 54th District Judge Matt Johnson, named Jane Carter.
One need only click here: https://youtu.be/rLFuxjWgIIk
To read the entirety of Mr. Broden’s response, one need only click here.
The instrument contains allegations of political opportunism for campaign contributors, the suppression of the evidence, resistance to discovery, and collusion with confidential informants not turned over to the defense.
There are numerous exhibits regarding these allegations that would have been presented had the hearing been allowed to progress.
Here is a copy of an e-mail from FBI Agent Brust: (click for full size)
There is evidence of suppression of evidence from legal instruments:
In addition, there is an audio tape, which is referenced in this text message:
Obviously, someone determined not to allow the material on the record “in the interest of justice.”
Casie Gotro, defense counsel for Bandido Jake Carrizal, sent this frantic e-mail denouncing the evidence obtained from Ms. Carter and Ms. West:
“jane carter is making shit up. i have a recorded conversation between myself and a lawyer from the AG’s office. said lawyer accuses reyna of instructing folks not to comply. I DO NOT BELIEVE THE AG.”
When left a phone message seeking clarification, she did not respond immediately. Curiously, the ladies all seem to be talking about the same thing.
When asked about that, she said, “I made the recording of the DPS lawyer…When you say I did not respond, it makes it look like I’m hiding something.”
We do not. Think. That. For. One. Moment.
Ms. Gotro obtained a take nothing judgment in her defense of Carrizal following a 5-week trial when the jury hopelessly deadlocked in favor of his acquittal. The trial judge, Reyna’s former law partner, Matt Johnson of the 54th Criminal District Court, declared a mistrial after applying the “dynamite” charge to try to prevent the deadlock.
And the floggings will continue until morale improves.
Go figure.
As it has been written, some days are diamonds; some days are stones.
So mote it be.
- The Legendary