AUSTIN, Texas (KXAN) — Attorneys for former Army Sergeant Daniel Perry, who was convicted last month of murdering Garrett Foster during a Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Austin in 2020, will be back in court Wednesday.
Perry’s attorneys want him to get a new trial and say they believe evidence was left out that would prove Perry was not the initial aggressor in the murder of Foster.
Perry’s attorneys filed a motion for a new trial not even a week after Perry’s conviction last month.
They requested the new trial based upon grounds of excluded evidence, court documents said. The defense team stated in the documents it attempted to introduce evidence to show Foster’s motive, states of mind and intent.
Perry faced one count of murder and another count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after the deadly shooting of Garrett Foster in the streets of downtown Austin on July 25, 2020. While he was found guilty of murder, the jury found that he was not guilty of the aggravated assault charge.
A day after Perry’s conviction, Governor Greg Abbott called for his pardon, saying in a tweet he was “working as swiftly as Texas law allows regarding the pardon of Sgt. Perry.”
Texas’ pardon process starts with the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. The board can submit a pardon recommendation to the governor, who then can approve the pardon.