Gov. Abbott’s rush to promise a pardon for Austin killer looks bad because it is bad
Texas lawmakers spend a lot of time talking about maintaining law and order, objectively and fairly, across the whole state. That includes Gov. Greg Abbott. But apparently, law and order can be more subjective, even cherry-picked, depending on whether your case catches the attention of the highest office in the state.
On April 7, a Travis County jury convicted Daniel Perry, an Army sergeant, of murder. Perry shot and killed Garrett Foster, a Black Lives Matter protester, at a rally in Austin in the summer of 2020. Abbott tweeted Saturday that he was “working as swiftly as Texas law allows regarding the pardon of Sgt. Perry” citing Texas’ “Stand Your Ground” self-defense law. He added: “I look forward to approving the Board’s pardon recommendation as soon as it hits my desk.”
Abbott also asked the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to expedite his requested review of Perry’s conviction, because Texas law won’t allow him to approve a pardon without a recommendation from the board.
It’s worth noting that Abbott tweeted this just one day after Fox News host Tucker Carlson called on Abbott to pardon Perry, saying on his show Friday night that the verdict “means that in the state of Texas, if you have the wrong politics, you’re not allowed to defend yourself.”
Plain and simple, Abbott’s pardon call looks bad because it is bad: What happened to law and order? Abbott has made his career on it, but now he’s using his platform and power to subvert the law and undermine justice — particularly for the victim and his family — to offer a preemptive pardon?
To make matters worse, there’s been a new development: Attorneys for Perry have filed a motion asking for a new trial, alleging misconduct by one of the alternate jurors and contending that Judge Clifford Brown excluded pertinent evidence to the case that might actually exonerate Perry.