United States : On Tuesday, a Texas prosecutor sought the reversal of a case that was pardoned by Governor Gregg Abbott of Texas, a former U.S. Army sergeant who was convicted of murder and sent to prison for shooting dead a Black Lives Matter protester.
The county’s district attorney, Jose Garza, a Democrat who sought and then prosecuted the murder, said that he had petitioned the state Court of Criminal Appeals to void Abbott’s action using a procedure known as a writ of mandamus.
Garza said at a news briefing in the state capital of Austin that Abbott, a Republican, transgressed the state’s constitutional doctrine of separation of powers and disregarded the legal processes in issuing a pardon to Daniel Perry last month.
Garza’s decision was BBC World News Americas program’s top story in Abbott’s office did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request seeking comment on Thursday.
Perry, who was convicted last year, was given Twenty-five years imprisonment after being convicted of murder when he shot dead Garrett Foster, an Air Force veteran last year in July during protests against police brutality that erupted following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis months earlier.
Foster, 28, was white; Perry was also white.
Incident and Trial Details
Perry, then 37, asserted his right to use force in defense and shot Foster because Foster had a weapon and an AK-47 rifle aimed at him. The trial in question provided different testimonies on the issue regarding whether Foster aimed the rifle at Perry or not.
The district attorneys stated that Foster, who was legally entitled to bear weapons, had initially approached Perry’s car with the intent of shielding other demonstrators, thinking that Perry was planning to attack them using his car.
The jury ruled against Perry, whose case turned into a political icon for conservatives.
Governor’s Action and Legal Response
On May 16, soon after Perry’s pardons board recommended the action, Abbott complied by granting the full pardon under the state’s Stand Your Ground self-defense laws, which are now considered one of the most liberal in the United States.
On Tuesday, Garza said to reporters that the board and Abbott concerned their politics over justice and made a joke from the legal system.
The district attorney declared that Abbott went beyond his mandate by applying pressure on the murder case before the appellate process could commence and, as a result, “prevented the judiciary from functioning. ”
Apart from the separation of power, Garza told reporters that the board and governor violated the pardon eligibility law, saying, “They didn’t even come close to meeting the standards set by the law in this case.”
Family’s Response and Ongoing Efforts
While accompanying Garza on Tuesday, the girl’s mother, Shiela Foster, said, “We will fight this until we get justice for Garrett. ”
It was a week after the attorneys general of 13 U. S. states and the District of Columbia, all democrats asked the U. S. Justice Department to launch a federal civil rights investigation into Foster’s death.
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