AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Travis County district attorney’s office plans to take action against Gov. Greg Abbott in response to what it believes was an “unlawful” pardon of a man convicted of murder in the death of a Black Lives Matter protester in 2020.
Gov. Greg Abbott pardoned Daniel Perry May 16, one week after he was sentenced to 25 years in prison. The former Army sergeant was working for Uber when he drove into a crowd of protesters who started kicking and hitting his car, court testimony showed. He shot protester Garrett Foster, himself an Air Force veteran, who was armed with a rifle and approached the car.
In a statement to KXAN, Perry’s attorney, Clint Broden, said Abbott used “pardon powers” similar to what is given to almost every other state governor in the U.S., as well as to the president. Another one of Perry’s attorneys, Doug O’Connell, called this a political move by the District Attorney’s Office.
District Attorney José Garza said his office intended to file a writ of mandamus asking the court of criminal appeals to reverse the “unlawful” pardon on the grounds that a process to support an innocence finding wasn’t followed and that Abbott violated Texas’ separation of powers clause.
One day after a jury found Perry guilty in April of 2023, Abbott called for him to be pardoned. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles reviewed the case and voted unanimously to give Perry a full pardon and restore his gun rights.
“We had justice for Garrett for 18 hours after waiting 3 years for a trial,” his mother, Sheila, said at Tuesday’s press conference. “It was planned. It was premeditated, and the very next day the governor announced his plans to pardon. And now here we are and he has done it and I am not OK with this and nobody should be OK with this.”
At the time he signed the pardon, Abbott noted the Board of Pardons and Paroles had conducted an “exhaustive review” of the case.
“Texas has one of the strongest ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws of self-defense that cannot be nullified by a jury or a progressive District Attorney,” Abbott said at the time.
“Indeed in the State of Texas, the Texas Governor, upon a recommendation of the Board of Pardon and Paroles, has the absolute power to pardon a person on any grounds including the grounds of actual innocence,” Broden said in his statement. “Here, that pardon was fully appropriate and consistent with the laws and Constitution of this States.”
KXAN asked Garza what he believed the likelihood was of things moving forward with the writ of mandamus the way he wants it to.
“We have faith in the rule of law and we have an obligation to pursue all our legal remedies under the law,” he responded. “What is the likelihood of the court of criminal appeals court, the justices, the men and women who serve in that body are going to follow the law? We’re all going to find out soon.”
Alan Bennett, a former Travis County assistant district attorney and current defense attorney who has experience working with the Board of Pardons and Paroles, said he “applaud(s) Garza for his efforts to think outside the box in hopes of achieving what he truly believes is a just result. On the other hand, I do not believe he is standing on firm legal ground.”
The District Attorney’s Office said it believes the governor improperly interfered with the judicial process by pardoning Perry.
“Here in Texas, it is up to our judicial system to determine whether a person is guilty or innocent and what the outcome should be,” Garza said. “And there is a lengthy appellate process that should be followed in every case. Here the executive, the governor, intervened in that process.”
KXAN reached out to Gov. Abbott’s office and will update this story when we receive a response.
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