A Waco attorney, who had previously worked in the McLennan County District Attorney's Office, claimed in a sworn affidavit filed Thursday that she was urged not to prosecute two married former Baylor employees, who were arrested for DWI in 2014.
Reporter Tommy Witherspoon at the Waco Tribune-Herald first reported on an "alleged deal" the Waco attorney, Brittany Scaramucci, claimed the couple's lawyer had struck in 2014 to avoid their cases being prosecuted while she was serving as special prosecutor.
Jennifer and Louis Jarvis, the couple at the center of the case, were acquitted in 2015 -- but then saw their charges reinstated by a higher court in 2016.
Their situation resurfaced in the affidavit filed Thursday as part of an unrelated motion tied to the Twin Peaks trials. As we have reported in past months, Twin Peaks defense attorneys have claimed McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna is under investigation by the FBI -- something the DA has denied. In the latest affidavit, Scaramucci added to those claims -- saying she was informed "that the FBI was conducting a public corruption investigation in relation to Reyna." But, in a separate paragraph, she brought up the Jarvis case. She said the Jarvis' attorney confronted her in the parking lot of the McLennan County courthouse while she was acting as the special prosecutor in that aforementioned case.
"That attorney specifically told me that if I ever wanted a good relationship with Reyna's office for my future clients, I would not prosecute the Jarvises," the sworn affidavit from Scaramucci stated.
In another accusation against Reyna in that affidavit, Scaramucci said she had a client who claimed to have "personally delivered cocaine for Reyna's use" and asked her to take him to talk to the FBI about it. She said she and her client met for an hour or more with an FBI agent as part of the agency's alleged "multi-faceted investigation of Reyna." That client later died following a motorcycle crash.
Channel 6 requested comment from the McLennan County District Attorney's Office, which sent the below statement from Abel Reyna.
“Yet another example of a Twin Peaks defense lawyer digging up a disgruntled former employee with more ridiculous allegations and trying to smear my name and disparage the work of the people of this office. Now they are relying on the word of a person who was fired from this office for being untruthful. It’s shameful, but not unexpected.”
Brian Bouffard, attorney for Twin Peaks defendant Jorge Daniel Salinas, released the following statement in response to Reyna's comments.
It certainly appears there are a lot of so-called "disgruntled" former employees of the McLennan County District Attorney's Office during Mr. Reyna's tenure as DA. What's particularly noteworthy about Ms. Scaramucci is that, unlike Mr. Reyna, she has given her information under oath in the form of an affidavit and is expected to testify under oath, as has Mr. Greg Davis, the former First Assistant DA under Mr. Reyna, and as will the other witnesses who know too well how Mr. Reyna has chosen to execute his responsibilities as a public servant and as a member of the Texas Bar.Mr. Reyna certainly could take the opportunity to deny these allegations, that he calls "ridiculous" and "shameful," under oath, but hasn't done so. And what of current employees such as Mr. Jarrett and Ms. Dillon? Are they similarly disgruntled? They actually had the opportunity to address these issues under oath, and were called upon in another Twin Peaks case last month to do so, but instead sought to quash subpoenas to avoid having to testify under oath.
All my client wants, and all the citizens of McLennan County should want, is truth and honor and integrity out of their elected prosecutor and his employees. We certainly intend to call Mr. Reyna as a witness on our motion, and hope he will provide truthful and complete testimony on these matters at a full and fair hearing.
