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A Texas man who killed a protester nearly three years in the past was sentenced Wednesday to 25 years in jail, though the state’s Republican governor has promised to approve a pardon if given the chance.
Daniel Perry, 35, an Military sergeant, was convicted final month by a Travis County jury of homicide within the deadly capturing of Garrett Foster in downtown Austin in July 2020.
On April 8, the day after the jury returned its verdict, Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted that he needed to pardon Perry, and stated he requested the Board of Pardons and Paroles to think about the matter.
Travis County District Legal professional José Garza on the time known as Abbott’s intervention within the case “deeply troubling.”
“In our authorized system, a jury will get to determine whether or not a defendant is responsible or harmless — not the Governor,” Garza stated in an April 9 assertion.
Abbott stated in vowing to pardon Perry that Texas has a robust “stand your floor” self-defense legislation and he recommended that Garza was a progressive district legal professional.
Underneath Texas legislation, the Board of Pardons and Paroles has to first suggest a pardon earlier than the governor can act on it. Abbott stated he was permitted to ask the board to overview it, and he stated he requested the board to take action and to expedite the matter.
Perry fatally shot Foster, 28, who had been legally carrying a rifle, at an illustration in opposition to police brutality and racial injustice in downtown Austin on the night of July 25, 2020.
Perry was in a car and Foster approached the intersection carrying the semi-automatic rifle, police have stated.
Perry shot Foster from the car with a handgun, and advised police that Foster, an Air Power veteran, had pointed the weapon at him and that the capturing was in self-defense, in response to police.
Perry was discovered responsible of homicide however was discovered not responsible of the second cost he confronted, aggravated assault with a lethal weapon. He confronted as much as life in jail on the homicide conviction.
His legal professional, Clint Broden, stated they plan to attraction. Broden stated Wednesday that that they had hoped for a sentence of 10 years or much less, and they’ll concentrate on that attraction course of.
“We additionally at the moment are ready to totally cooperate within the Texas pardon course of,” Perry’s attorneys stated in an announcement.
A decide on Could 3 rejected a request by Perry’s legal professional for a brand new trial within the case.
The protest in Austin the place Foster was killed occurred as demonstrations have been held throughout the nation that summer time following the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, by a white Minnesota police officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck.
Perry is white, and so was Foster.
The sentencing listening to started Tuesday. Prosecutors highlighted textual content messages and social media posts that confirmed a hostility towards Black Lives Matter motion, NBC affiliate KXAN of Austin reported. A few of Perry’s comrades from the Military vouched for his character, the station reported.
Perry joined the Military in 2012 and continues to be within the navy. He’s at present assigned to the first Brigade Fight Workforce, eleventh Airborne Division at Fort Wainwright in Alaska, the Military stated.
Perry’s present standing is “civilian confinement, and he’s pending separation from the Military,” Military spokesperson Bryce S. Dubee stated.
“The Military has reviewed the proof launched by the Travis County District Courtroom and has handed the data to the Military Felony Investigation Division to conduct an unbiased overview of the allegations contained inside the doc,” Dubee stated.
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