Texas Governor Greg Abbott signaled Saturday that he was working to get Daniel Perry a pardon after he was convicted in a case involving self-defense.
Perry, who shot and killed a man who was carrying an AK-47 at a Black Lives Matter protest in 2020, was found guilty of murder by a jury on Friday in Texas. The jury found Perry not guilty of the aggravated assault charge.
Perry was not initially charged with any crimes after the incident, but in 2021, District Attorney Jose Garza took office and decided to prosecute Perry. Garza is one of many district attorneys whose campaign was backed by billionaire Democrat megadonor George Soros.
“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 in a statement. “Unlike the President or some other states, the Texas Constitution limits the Governor’s pardon authority to only act on a recommendation by the Board of Pardons and Paroles.”
“Texas law DOES allow the Governor to request the Board of Pardons and Paroles to determine if a person should be granted a pardon,” Abbott continued. “I have made that request and instructed the Board to expedite its review. I look forward to approving the Board’s pardon recommendation as soon as it hits my desk. Additionally, I have already prioritized reining in rogue District Attorneys, and the Texas Legislature is working on laws to achieve that goal.”
Abbott’s decision to go after “rogue District Attorneys” comes after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis sent law enforcement officials to remove a woke Soros prosecutor from power in the state — the only time that a Soros prosecutor has been removed from power by a governor.
I am working as swiftly as Texas law allows regarding the pardon of Sgt. Perry. pic.twitter.com/HydwdzneMU
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) April 8, 2023
David Fugitt, the lead investigating detective in the case, said in a 2021 affidavit that Garza acted with “criminal behavior” in the case.
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“I had several conversations with the District Attorney’s Office regarding the presentation of exculpatory evidence related to Daniel Perry,” Fugitt said. “It became clear to me that the District Attorney’s Office did not want to present evidence to the grand jury that would be exculpatory to Daniel Perry.”
“On more than one occasion I was directed by the Travis County Attorney’s Office to remove exculpatory information that I had intended to present to the grand jury during my testimony,” he said. “Of my original 158 slide powerpoint presentation, the presentation was reduced to 56 slides with almost all of the exculpatory evidence ordered removed. I felt like I did not have any other options but to comply with their orders.”
Fugitt said that Garza’s directive to forbid exculpatory evidence from being shown during the case “is when the conduct of the District Attorney’s Office [went] from highly unethical behavior to criminal behavior.”
