Daniel Perry to face trial for deadly conduct after being pardoned for murder conviction
A Travis County judge said he won't dismiss a deadly conduct charge against Daniel Perry, who was pardoned last year by Gov. Greg Abbott after Perry was convicted of murder in the Austin shooting death of a Black Lives Matter protester in 2020.
"I will be preparing legal findings of fact and conclusions of law which will explain the decision," County Court-at-Law No. 8 Judge Carlos Barrera said Thursday in an email to the American-Statesman. "The defense wants to submit proposed findings, and the state wants to respond; so I will wait to see those before I finish mine."
Defense lawyer Doug O'Connell declined to comment Thursday on the judge's decision. The Travis County attorney's office does not comment on pending cases, spokeswoman Diana Melendez said.
More: Judge delays decision on whether to dismiss deadly conduct charge against Daniel Perry
Barrera said he sent attorneys for both sides an email Tuesday about his decision not to dismiss the indictment.
O'Connell had argued during a hearing Jan. 24 that the indictment should be dismissed because of prosecutorial misconduct that happened both before and after grand jury hearings.
Former Austin police homicide Detective David Fugitt testified at the hearing that prosecutors told him he could not include evidence in his grand jury testimony that would prove Perry did not run a red light and did not intentionally drive into a group of Black Lives Matter protesters on Congress Avenue downtown in July 2020.
More: Daniel Perry released from Texas prison within an hour after Gov. Abbott's pardon
Fugitt also said police threatened him with an internal investigation if he didn't remove the exculpatory evidence from his presentation to the grand jury. Police threatened Fugitt after they received an angry phone call from District Attorney José Garza, O'Connell said.
Prosecutorial misconduct also occurred after the grand jury indicted Perry when Garza held a news conference saying Perry had declined to testify, O'Connell said during the hearing last week. What Garza said violated Perry's Fifth Amendment right to remain silent, O'Connell said.
Assistant County Attorney Alexandra Gauthier objected to most of what Fugitt said during the hearing, saying it violated rules about the secrecy of grand jury proceedings. The judge overruled most of her objections.
Gauthier also said that a district judge already had decided there was no prosecutorial misconduct regarding Fugitt's testimony. Fugitt didn't know what the other witnesses said at the grand jury hearing, she said. Prosecutors also are not required to present exculpatory evidence at a grand jury proceeding, the assistant county attorney said.
During the hearing, Gauthier also submitted a writ of mandamus to the 3rd Court of Appeals asking the appeals court to order Barrera to "reverse his ruling eliciting secret grand jury information during this evidentiary hearing." Barrera said in his email to the Statesman on Thursday that the state had withdrawn its request for a writ of mandamus.
O'Connell filed a court document Wednesday that said the county attorney's office in previous filings had offered Perry a plea bargain of six months in jail with no credit for the one year and one week Perry had spent in jail before being pardoned by the governor.
"This plea deal appears to be retaliating for the Defendant successfully exercising his legal rights to seek a pardon," the document said. "If true, this constitutes additional Prosecutorial Vindictiveness, yet another type of Prosecutorial Misconduct."
Perry was charged with the Class A misdemeanor of deadly conduct in 2021 at the same time he was charged with murder and aggravated assault in the death of Black Lives Matter protester Garrett Foster in July 2020. A jury in April 2023 convicted Perry of murder, but he was pardoned by the governor in May 2024 and released from prison. He was acquitted of the aggravated assault charge.
In announcing the pardon, Abbott pointed to the state's "Stand Your Ground" laws of self-defense and said that Garza "demonstrated unethical and biased misuse of his office in prosecuting Daniel Scott Perry."
Shortly after Abbott's announcement, a state district judge unsealed court records that contained Perry's previously unreleased messages and social media posts, which contained racist rhetoric. During Perry's murder trial, prosecutors argued that he had sought out confrontation.
The deadly conduct indictment said that Perry, who was an Uber driver at the time, placed a group of marchers walking on Congress Avenue on July 25, 2020, in danger of serious bodily injury by texting while driving and turning right at a red light without coming to a complete stop. It also said Perry turned into an intersection where pedestrians were visible in the crosswalk and in the intersection, and that he drove into a group of people in the street.
A Class A misdemeanor is punishable by up to one year in a county jail and a fine of up to $4,000.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Judge won't dismiss deadly conduct charge against Daniel Perry
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Waymo suspended service in downtown Los Angeles and "will not be serving any rides in the protest area until it is deemed safe," a company spokesperson told NBC News. − Melina Khan This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Marines heading to LA; Newsom says move is Trump's 'deranged fantasy'
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The Latest: Trump heads to Fort Bragg to celebrate 250th anniversary for US Army
President Donald Trump plans to speak at Fort Bragg on Tuesday to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army as he deploys the military in an attempt to quiet immigration protests in Los Angeles. Trump has promoted the Army's anniversary as a reason to hold a military parade in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, which is also his 79th birthday. Here's the latest: Trump's Tuesday schedule, according to the White House 12:25 p.m. — Trump will travel to Fort Bragg, North Carolina 2:40 p.m. — Once he arrives, Trump will observe a military demonstration 4:00 p.m. — Trump will deliver remarks to service members, veterans and their families 6:00 p.m. — Trump will travel back to the White House Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to face Congress for first time since Signal leaks He's expected to field sharp questions from members of Congress about his tumultuous start as Pentagon chief, including his sharing of sensitive military details over a Signal chat, in three separate Capitol Hill hearings beginning Tuesday. Lawmakers also have made it clear they're unhappy that Hegseth hasn't provided details on the administration's first proposed defense budget, which Trump has said would total $1 trillion, a significant increase over the current spending level of more than $800 billion. It will be lawmakers' first chance to ask Hegseth about a myriad of other controversial spending by the Pentagon, including plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on security upgrades to turn a Qatari jet into Air Force One and to pour as much as $45 million into a parade recently added to the Army's 250th birthday bash, which happens to coincide with Trump's birthday on Saturday. ▶ Read more about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth RFK Jr. ousts entire CDC vaccine advisory committee Kennedy on Monday removed every member of a scientific committee that advises the CDC on how to use vaccines and pledged to replace them with his own picks. Major physicians and public health groups criticized the move to oust all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Kennedy, who was one of the nation's leading anti-vaccine activists before becoming the nation's top health official, has not said who he would appoint to the panel, but said it would convene in just two weeks in Atlanta. Although it's typically not viewed as a partisan board, the entire current roster of committee members were Biden appointees. ▶ Read more about Kennedy's latest move Trump pushes ahead with his maximalist immigration campaign in face of LA protests Trump made no secret of his willingness to take a maximalist approach to enforcing immigration laws and keeping order as he campaigned to return to the White House. The fulfillment of that pledge is now on full display in Los Angeles. By overriding California's Gov. Gavin Newsom, Trump is already going beyond what he did to respond to Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, when he warned he could send troops to contain demonstrations that turned violent if governors in the states did not act to do so themselves. Trump said in September of that year that he 'can't call in the National Guard unless we're requested by a governor' and that 'we have to go by the laws.' But now, he's moving swiftly to test the bounds of his executive authority in order to deliver on his promise of mass deportations. What remains to be seen is whether Americans will stand by him once it's operationalized nationwide. For now, Trump is betting that they will. ▶ Read more about Trump's efforts to fulfill his immigration promises Trump heads to Fort Bragg while facing criticism for deploying military at Los Angeles protests Trump plans to speak at Fort Bragg on Tuesday to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army as he deploys the military in an attempt to quiet immigration protests in Los Angeles. Fort Bragg, located near Fayetteville, North Carolina, serves as headquarters for U.S. Army Special Operations Command. Highly trained units like the Green Berets and the Rangers are based there. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll will also be at Tuesday's event, along with service members, veterans and their families. Trump has promoted the Army's anniversary as a reason to hold a military parade in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, which is also his 79th birthday. Trump, who sees the military as a critical tool for domestic goals, has used the recent protests in Los Angeles as an opportunity to deploy the National Guard and U.S. Marines to quell disturbances that began as protests over immigration raids. ▶ Read more about Trump's Fort Bragg trip
