There must be something in the water in McLennan County, Texas. Broden & Mickelsen was first exposed to McLennan County’s way of doing “justice” in 2015 in relation to the shootout at the Twin Peaks restaurant that took place during a meeting of various motorcycle clubs and left nine people dead.
177 motorcyclists were arrested the day of the shoutout and 155 were later indicted. Clint Broden spearheaded the defense and was a very vocal critic of how the cases were handled by the then District Attorney Abel Reyna.
Broden, who is always a strong advocate for his clients, was so vocal in calling out the injustices in the case that Reyna moved for a gag order preventing Broden from speaking to the media. The Court of Appeals eventually found that gag order unconstitutional. At the end of the day, all 155 indictments were dismissed.
Moreover, in large part based upon evidence brought to light by Broden, Reyna was not reelected District Attorney. Broden & Mickelsen has since joined with Dallas civil rights attorney Don Tittle in pursuing claims against various officials and entities for violating the civil rights of many of the motorcyclists.
As a result of Broden’s efforts in this case, he was awarded the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyer’s Lawyer of the Year in 2018. There are numerous articles discussing the events at Twin Peaks and about Broden’s role in the defense of the motorcyclists. One summary article can be found at: https://www.kwtx.com/2025/05/16/decade-later-look-back-twin-peaks-massacre-waco-texas/
After Abel Reyna was defeated, Barry Johnson became the new District Attorney in McLennan County. Under Johnson’s administration, a man charged with sexually abusing his child grew dissatisfied with his defense attorney and hired Clint Broden to take over his defense. Through the use of a polygraph examination, a defense forensic interview of the child and other evidence, Broden was able to establish the client’s innocence, and the case was eventually dismissed and the man was reunited with his family.
More recently, under yet another new McLennan County District Attorney, Clint Broden was hired by a Utah man accused of sending inappropriate pictures to minors in McLennan County and making terroristic threats. The man was arrested in Utah and hauled down to Texas to answer these extremely serious charges. Before hiring Broden, the man had gone through two other defense attorneys and he felt like nothing was being done to establish his innocence.
By examining various social media records, not only was Broden able to establish that the client was absolutely innocent, but he was also able to identify the true perpetrator, who was living in Canada. While the case had languished for more than a year before Broden was hired, Broden was able to get the case dismissed within a couple of months of being hired. This case also received a good deal of press coverage in Waco. https://www.kwtx.com/2025/06/02/wrongfully-arrested-charges-dropped-against-utah-man-threat-against-axtell-school-exploitation-minor/
Late in 2025, Broden & Mickelsen again joined with attorney Don Tittle and filed a civil rights lawsuit against the officer responsible for the arrest of this innocent man, as well as the McLennan County Sheriff’s Office. https://www.kwtx.com/2025/12/09/wrongfully-arrested-man-files-malicious-prosecution-lawsuit-against-mclennan-county-detective/
We are often asked whether it is wise to hire an attorney from outside the county in which the defendant is charged given that this will usually (but surprisingly not always) incur additional costs. In large part, the answer to the question depends upon whether you want to fight the charges and how aggressive you want your attorney to be. Broden has described Waco as the “biggest small town” he has seen and often, local attorneys in smaller towns are hesitant to rock the boat. Nevertheless, as evidenced by the cases discussed above, out-of-town attorneys can be aggressive in your defense and might be exactly who you need.
