Travis County District Attorney José Garza has filed a lawsuit to challenge Governor Greg Abbott's pardon of Daniel Perry, who was convicted of murdering Garrett Foster during an altercation at a Black Lives Matter protest in Austin, Texas in 2020. Perry received a 25-year prison sentence after the Travis County jury's conviction. The governor argued that Perry was within his rights to shoot Foster under Texas stand your ground law and that the case shouldn't have gone to trial.
Garza called the pardon a 'mockery of our legal system' and said it undermined the jury's conviction. Garrett Foster's mother decried the pardon, stating Perry had expressed racist beliefs and had suggested he was going to shoot protesters demonstrating for racial justice in 2020. She also noted that Perry's actions were premeditated.
Fourteen attorneys general from other states called on the Department of Justice to examine the case due to Perry's use of violent and racist language on social media.
Perry was convicted for fatally shooting Foster after an altercation at a Black Lives Matter protest in Austin, Texas in 2020. The Travis County jury found him guilty and he received a 25-year prison sentence. However, Governor Greg Abbott pardoned Perry last month, arguing that he was within his rights to shoot Foster under Texas stand your ground law and that the case shouldn't have gone to trial.
Garza filed a writ of mandamus with the state's highest criminal court on Tuesday to challenge the pardon. He argued that it violated the Texas Constitution by circumventing his authority as district attorney and interfering with an ongoing criminal case. The lawsuit also noted that Perry had expressed racist beliefs and had suggested he was going to shoot protesters demonstrating for racial justice in 2020.
Foster's mother, Sheila Foster, decried the pardon and called it a 'mockery of our legal system'. She stated that Perry's actions were premeditated and that he had expressed racist beliefs before the shooting. Fourteen attorneys general from other states also called on the Department of Justice to examine the case due to Perry's use of violent and racist language on social media.
The pardon was a controversial move, with some arguing that it undermined the jury's conviction and interfered with an ongoing criminal case. Others saw it as a recognition of Texas' stand your ground laws, which allow individuals to use force in self-defense without retreating if they reasonably believe they are in danger.
The case is currently being reviewed by the Court of Criminal Appeals.