AUSTIN, Texas — A Texas court has rejected efforts to overturn the pardon of a man convicted of murder.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals rejected the petition Thursday sent by Travis County District Attorney José Garza.
In early June, Garza announced his desire to reverse Daniel Perry's pardon, the ex-Army sergeant who killed Garrett Foster in Downtown Austin during a 2020 Black Lives Matter protest. The petition was filed one month after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's pardon of Perry.
Garza's reaction to Perry's pardon
Garza's petition came as attorneys general in other states called for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate Texas's pardon of Daniel Perry.
"The Board of Pardon and Paroles, and the governor, put their politics over justice and make a mockery of our legal system," Garza said. "For that, they should be ashamed of themselves. Their actions were contrary to the law."
Garza claimed Abbott "exceeded his authority and violated the separation of powers doctrine" before filing a writ of mandamus against the governor.
"We had justice for Garrett for 18 hours after waiting three years for a trial," Garrett Foster's mother, Sheila Foster, said following Garza's announcement. "We got justice for my son … The very next day, the governor announced his plans to pardon, and now here we are. And he has done it, and I'm not OK with this, and no one should be OK with this."
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The AGs in 13 states and the District of Columbia sent a letter to the DOJ calling for a civil rights investigation of Perry's actions. The letter states the AGs want the department to look into whether Perry violated federal criminal law.
Garrett Foster was armed when he was killed by Perry, which led Abbott to say Perry's conviction violated the Texas "Stand Your Ground" law. Perry claimed he shot Garrett Foster in self-defense after encountering a group of demonstrators while he was working as a rideshare driver in Austin.
Within hours of Perry's pardon, he was released from a prison in southeast Texas.
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An attorney for Garrett Foster's fiancée, Whitney Mitchell, released a statement on her behalf after Perry's pardon:
"I loved Garrett Foster. I thought we were going to grow old together. He was the love of my life. He still is. I am heartbroken by this lawlessness. Gove. Abbott has shown that to him, only certain lives matter. He has made us all less safe.
"Daniel Perry texted his friends about plans to murder a protester he disagreed with. After a lengthy trial, with an abundance of evidence, 12 impartial Texans determined he that he carried out that plan, and murdered the love of my life. With this pardon, the governor has desecrated the life of a murdered Texan, impugned that jury’s just verdict, and declared that citizens can be killed with impunity as long as they hold political views that are different from those in power."