McLennan County prosecutors announced Tuesday they were dropping all remaining criminal charges from a 2015 shootout at a Twin Peaks restaurant that left nine people dead and 20 injured.
The shootout between rival biker gangs - the Bandidos and Cossacks - led to the arrest of 177 people about 4 years ago. 155 people were intially indicted for engaging in criminal activity, but most of those charges were dropped last year.
McLennan County Criminal District Attorney, Barry Johnson, has been in office since January. He said he inherited the remaining 24 cases from the adminstration of former DA Abel Reyna. DA Johnson said some of the cases that were dropped before he took office had their statute of limitations expire.
The remaining 24 cases were left under the riot statute - a Class B misdemeanor. He said if the cases would have been tried they could have resulted in multiple appeals and reversals.
"So I made the decision, and it was a tough decision, that we were not going to go forward with those cases under the riot statute and we were going to put this tragic day in McLennan County behind us," Johnson told KWBU.
As for those questioning whether there is a lack of accountability for the people who were killed, Johnson said it came down to meeting the burden beyond a reasonable doubt.
"Loss of life is a tragedy, and it was a tragedy out there that day. But it was a situation where we have to look at the evidence that we've got - and we were just not able to prove murder," Johnson said.
In a release sent by Johnson's office on Tuesday, the DA said following the indictments of the 155 people, former DA Reyna had the "time and opportunity" to review the admissible evidence and determine the "full range of charges" that could have been used to bring against the individuals involved in the shootout.
The release also said that if the former DA had taken the action in a "timely manner" than it "would have, and should have, resulted in numerous convictions and prison sentences."
Former DA Reyna said in response to the statement, "I absolutely disagree with the overall result as well as several statements and accusations within Mr. Johnson's press release; however, it is solely his decision on how to proceed with any case in the District Attorney's Office. I respect the fact that the voters of McLennan County chose Mr. Johnson to make these types of decisions."
In 2017 there was one trial that was tied to the incident - but it ended in mistrial.
Mitchel Roth, a professor of criminal justice and criminology at Sam Houston State University, was on the Texas Standard Wednesday.
Roth said the "poor handling of evidence" and "law enforcements failure to link that evidence to individuals" could be some of the reasons why there weren't successful cases.
DA Johnson said the county plans to file the dismissal papers for the remaining cases later Wednesday or early Thursday.