Poised to pardon a convicted murderer, Gov. Greg Abbott has a history of stingy clemency

AUSTIN – Gov. Greg Abbott has used his pardon power sparingly over three terms. Each year, he’s usually issued only a handful to Texans convicted of minor crimes.

So the Republican turned heads over the weekend in his rush to pardon an Army sergeant convicted of murder.

Daniel Perry was found guilty by a jury on Friday, but has not been sentenced yet for killing an armed protester at a march in Austin against police violence. Perry came across demonstrators in his car and fatally shot Garrett Foster, who was carrying an AK-47.

Perry’s murder conviction quickly made national news, and on Saturday, Abbott declared he was seeking a pardon “as swiftly as Texas law allows.”

Abbott’s office did not answer specific questions from The Dallas Morning News about the pardon, including why the governor wants one in this case. A spokesman, Andrew Mahaleris, instead pointed to the governor’s statement on Twitter.

In it, Abbott explained the decision this way: “Texas has one of the strongest ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws of self-defense that cannot be nullified by a judge or a progressive District Attorney.”

The move came after conservatives, including Fox News host Tucker Carlson, pressed Abbott to intervene. And it plays into a Republican-led push this legislative session to crack down on district attorneys whom GOP lawmakers accuse of failing to enforce abortion bans and election laws.

In a lengthy statement, the district attorney whose office prosecuted Perry decried Abbott’s actions as “deeply troubling.”

“In our legal system, a jury gets to decide whether a defendant is guilty or innocent — not the Governor,” said Travis County District Attorney José Garza, who ran for the job as a progressive.

The timeline for a possible pardon is not entirely clear. Typically, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, whose members are appointed by the governor, gives Abbott a list of recommendations to accept or reject.

In this case, Abbott asked the board to launch a review of Perry’s case. On Monday, a board spokesperson said the investigation would begin immediately, but did not answer questions about when it might be completed. On Tuesday, Garza requested a meeting with the board to present evidence considered by the jurors.

Some attorneys said it’s unusual to launch the pardon process so early, as people normally must wait to apply until after completing their sentence.

Perry, who faces up to life in prison, is still awaiting sentencing and on Tuesday, his attorney filed a motion for a new trial.

On Twitter, Abbott — a former Texas Supreme Court justice and state attorney general — said Perry doesn’t have to wait until his appeals are exhausted.

“I look forward to approving the Board’s pardon recommendation as soon as it hits my desk,” he said in a statement.

Abbott’s eagerness is an about-face from his past approach to pardons, according to political scientists and lawyers. During his eight years in office, he’s usually issued only a sliver of those recommended by the board and delivered them around Christmas time.

In 2021, the board suggested the governor grant 75 clemency requests, and at the end of the year Abbott chose to pardon eight Texans, whose convictions included theft, unlawfully carrying a weapon and robbery. None had been sentenced to more than 3 years probation. A full pardon restores certain rights the recipients may have lost with their criminal conviction, including the right to serve on a jury or hold public office.

“This governor has chosen not to be the most favorable when it comes to granting pardons,” said Bill Habern, co-chair of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association’s Corrections and Parole Committee. “Matter of fact, he’s been about the toughest governor on granting pardons I’ve seen.”

Habern, a Houston-based attorney, said he gets several calls a week about pardons, but he rarely takes the cases.

“You don’t want to take someone who you know is going to fail,” he said.

Perry was working for a ride-hailing company in July 2020 when he turned onto a street and into a large crowd of demonstrators protesting against police violence and racial injustice in downtown Austin, according to a story written by The Associated Press on Friday.

Foster was attending the protest with his fiancée, Whitney Mitchell, who is a quadruple amputee, their mothers told The Dallas Morning News at the time. The couple, who met in North Texas as teenagers, had moved to Austin a few years earlier and had attended protests in the weeks prior to Foster’s slaying. Sheila Foster, Garrett Foster’s mother, told The News that racial equity issues were important to her son, who was white, and Mitchell, who is Black.

In a video that was streamed live on Facebook, a car can be heard honking before several shots ring out and protesters begin screaming and scattering, the AP reported. Foster, who was 28-years-old, was pronounced dead at the hospital.

During closing arguments, Perry’s attorneys said he had no choice but to shoot Foster as he approached Perry’s vehicle with an AK-47 rifle, the Austin American-Statesman reported. Prosecutors said Perry had other choices, and could have driven away before firing his own gun. The jury deliberated over two days before handing down a guilty verdict on Friday.

Hours later, Carlson cast the case as a “legal atrocity” and told viewers he wanted to ask Abbott about a pardon, but the governor declined an invitation to appear on the show.

“So that is Greg Abbott’s position,” Carlson said. “There is no right of self defense in Texas.”

Once Abbott made his pardon plans known on Saturday, he received support from some of the state’s top GOP leaders, including Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

While the review now rests with the Texas Board of Paroles and Pardons, there’s no reason to believe the members aren’t on the same page as Abbott, said Mark Jones, a political scientist at Rice University.

“Historically governors were considered to be relatively weak in Texas constitutionally,” he said. But Abbott, through his long tenure, has been able to fill boards with his own appointees.

“I don’t expect any of them are going to object to it, given that they’ve all been vetted by Abbott and they all owe their appointment to Abbott,” he said.

Some have accused Abbott of playing politics with pardons in the past.

In October 2021, the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole recommended the governor give George Floyd a posthumous pardon for a decade-old drug conviction, according to The Associated Press. But the board later reversed itself, saying the recommendation had been withdrawn because it “contained procedural errors and lack of compliance with Board rules.”

The Houston public defender who applied for Floyd’s pardon told The News at the time that the withdrawal “smacks of something untoward” and politics triumphed over justice. Last fall, the board again took up the pardon for Floyd, according to the AP, and decided not to recommend one.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.