AUSTIN, Texas — A U.S. Army sergeant plans to enchantment his 25-year jail sentence for fatally capturing an armed man throughout a Black Lives Matter protest in Texas, and can cooperate with efforts by the state’s Republican governor to difficulty a pardon, his lawyer mentioned Wednesday.
Daniel Perry, 36, was convicted of homicide in April for killing 28-year-old Garrett Foster through the downtown Austin protest in July 2020.
“After three lengthy years we’re lastly getting justice for Garrett,” the sufferer’s mom, Sheila Foster, instructed the court docket after sentencing Wednesday.
“Mr. Perry, I pray to God that sooner or later, he’ll eliminate all this hate that’s in your coronary heart,” she mentioned.
Perry lawyer Clinton Broden mentioned in a press release that his consumer would enchantment. He known as Perry’s conviction the product of “political prosecution” and mentioned the protection crew would “absolutely cooperate within the pardon course of.”
Perry’s conviction prompted outrage from distinguished conservatives, and Gov. Greg Abbott, citing Texas’ Stand Your Floor legal guidelines, has mentioned he would signal a pardon as soon as a suggestion from the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles hits his desk
The board — which is stacked with Abbott appointees — is reviewing Perry’s case on the governor’s orders, however it’s unclear when it’ll attain a call.
District Choose Clifford Brown delivered a press release throughout sentencing that didn’t handle the potential pardon immediately. However he insisted that Perry had a “truthful and neutral trial” and that the jury’s choice “deserves our honor and it deserves to be revered.”
Travis County District Lawyer Jose Garza mentioned it was Abbott “who determined to insert politics on this case.”
Garza mentioned he’s been in contact with the board and has been assured that prosecutors might be allowed to current a case in opposition to a pardon, and that it’s going to embrace a presentation from Foster’s household.
The pardon course of is a invaluable test on the court docket system, Broden mentioned.
“Those that declare that Governor Abbott’s expressed intent relies on politics merely select to disregard the truth that it was solely the political machinations of a rogue district lawyer which led to Sgt. Perry’s prosecution within the first occasion,” he mentioned.
Perry was stationed at Fort Hood, about 70 miles (110 kilometers) north of Austin, when the capturing occurred. He had simply dropped off a ride-share buyer and turned onto a avenue full of protesters.
Perry mentioned he was making an attempt to get previous the gang and fired his pistol when Foster pointed a rifle at him. Witnesses testified that they didn’t see Foster elevate his weapon, and prosecutors argued that Perry might have pushed away with out capturing.
Perry mentioned he acted in self-defense. His attorneys requested the choose to contemplate his greater than a decadelong navy profession and hand down a sentence of not more than 10 years. Army spokesman Bryce Dubee has mentioned Perry is assessed as in “civilian confinement” pending separation from the navy.
On Tuesday, prosecutors submitted into proof dozens of texts and social media posts Perry wrote, shared or appreciated, together with some shockingly racist photos. That they had been excluded from Perry’s trial, however had been publicly launched after his conviction and allowed into the sentencing section by Brown.
“This man is a loaded gun, able to go off at any perceived menace,” prosecutor Guillermo Gonzalez mentioned, urging Brown to difficulty a sentence of a minimum of 25 years. “He’s going to do it once more.”
Perry, who’s white, was working as a ride-share driver in downtown Austin on July 25, 2020, when he shot and killed Foster, an Air Drive veteran. Foster, who was additionally white, was legally carrying an AK-47 rifle as he participated within the demonstration in opposition to police killings and racial injustice, following the demise of George Floyd, a Black man, by a white Minneapolis police officer.
Amongst Perry’s statements launched Tuesday, he wrote on Fb a month earlier than the capturing: “It’s official I’m a racist as a result of I don’t agree with individuals performing like animals on the zoo.”
Floyd was killed on Could 25, 2020. Just a few days later as protests erupted, Perry despatched a textual content message to an acquaintance: “I would go to Dallas to shoot looters.”
Perry lawyer Douglas O’Connell argued that the texts and posts had been offered by prosecutors out of context, and that Perry has a proper to free speech.
“A few of these social media posts are frankly repugnant,” O’Connell mentioned, whereas classifying others as “darkish humor.”
Foster was along with his girlfriend, Whitney Mitchell, who’s Black and makes use of a wheelchair, when Perry gunned him down.
“Black lives mattered to Garrett,” his mom instructed the courtroom Wednesday. “The love of his life was a Black girl.”
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