Retrial Of Soldier Who Texas Governor Wants To Pardon

A Texas judge on Wednesday denied a request for a new trial for an Army sergeant convicted of ki!!ing an armed protester during a Black Lives Matter march and set a May 9 sentencing in a case where Republican Gov. Greg Abbot has said he will seek a pardon.

Sgt. Daniel Perry faces up to life in prison for fatally shooting 28-year-old Garrett Foster in downtown Austin in 2020 while legally carrying an AK-47 weapon amid a summer of nationwide turmoil over police shootings and social injustice.

Perry requested a retrial due to allegations of improper jury behavior throughout the trial and deliberations. After a brief hearing, State District Judge Clifford Brown, who presided over the original problem, denied the request.

On April 7, a jury unanimously voted to convict Perry. The judgment infuriated notable conservatives, including former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who termed the shooting self-defense and chastised Abbott on the air after he failed to appear on his show.

Abbott, a former judge who has not ruled out a 2024 presidential run, tweeted the next day that “Texas has one of the strongest ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws” and that he looked forward to signing a pardon once a recommendation hits his desk.

Based on Abbott’s orders, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles has already begun what legal experts describe as a highly unusual and immediate case review.

Texas Governor Wants To Pardon

The governor has not publicly stated how he arrived at his judgment. It is unclear when the parole board will rule on Perry’s case.

Clinton Broden, Perry’s attorney, declined to comment on the judge’s rejection of a retrial and the prospective pardon.

Perry was stationed in Fort Hood, roughly 70 miles (110 kilometers) north of Austin, for over a decade. On the night of the shooting, he was working as a ride-share driver and had just dropped off a customer when he pulled down a street filled with demonstrators.

Perry claimed he was acting in self-defense while attempting to get past the crowd blocking the street, and Foster pointed a weapon at him. Witnesses said they didn’t see Foster raise his firearm, and prosecutors claimed Perry might have driven away without shooting.

After the trial, the court unsealed dozens of text messages and social media posts showing Perry having hostile views toward Black Lives Matter protests. In a comment on Facebook a month before the shooting, Perry allegedly wrote, “It is official I am a racist because I do not agree with people acting like animals at the zoo.”

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