It was an emotional day in court on Monday as the Twin Peaks Trial for biker Jake Carrizal entered its 14th day of testimony. Prosecutors shifted their focus from weapons found at the scene to going over the autopsy reports of all nine bikers who were killed.
Family members of deceased bikers Daniel Boyett and Richard Jordan were in the courtroom. They wept in the courtroom, saying the images shown were too much for them to handle. The state called Dr. Reade Quinton to the stand. He's the Deputy Chief Medical Examiner out of the Dallas County office. Quinton told the court he oversaw the autopsies of the nine bikers who were killed. One by one prosecutor Michael Jarrett showed the jury photos and autopsy reports of each individual biker. Quinton ruled all nine as homicides. The wife of Richard Jordan cried as Quinton described in detail her husband’s injury from being shot in the back of the head.
“After the bullet goes through the occipital scalp it actually splits in half,” said Quinton. Half of the bullet enters the head and it ends up lodged in the base of the skull. The other half never entered the skull, it traveled downward deflected off and ended up in the right side of the neck."
ATF agent Ken Keener also testified Monday. He was not on the stand very long. His agency traced a Beretta .32 caliber, which was one of the weapons found at twin peaks. Defense Attorney Casie Gotro objected to his testimony because he was not the one who performed the trace. 54th District Court Judge Matt Johnson agreed, sustained Gotro's objection, and after a quick recess, Keener was excused from the witness stand.
After hours of testimony from Quinton, the state called Dallas-based firearm and tool examiner April Kendrick to the stand. Kendrick analyzed the three guns that were fired by Waco Police at Twin Peaks the day of the shootout. She also compared the bullets found in the body of each dead biker to the guns used by police. For the jury, prosecutors were trying to separate which bikers were shot by police, and which were shot by other bikers.
Nothing was mentioned in court Monday about the defendant Jake Carrizal and his alleged role in the Twin Peaks shootout. One juror appeared to be dozing off. The trial was expected to go on for another few weeks. Court resumes Tuesday at 9 a.m.
Carrizal is accused of directing activities of a street gang, engaging in organized criminal activity with the underlying offense of murder, and engaging in organized criminal activity with the underlying offense of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.