On Friday, 37-year-old Army sergeant Daniel Perry was found guilty of fatally shooting Garrett Foster, an Air Force veteran and BLM protester.Perry’s defense lawyers say he shot Foster in self-defense at a demonstration in downtown Austin, Texas, on July 25, 2020.Texts from Perry in which he wrote he “might have to kill a few people” who were “rioting” outside his apartment were used in the trial, which began on March 27.He said he felt threatened after 28-year-old Foster pointed his AK-47 at him, though witnesses said they never saw Foster raise his weapon.
I was of course not there, but I notice that witnesses 'never seeing' things at these kinds of events is a common defensive strategy. There's a case in Atlanta right now around the so-called "Cop City" protests where a Georgia State Trooper was actually shot, and the witnesses -- who are mostly members of various activist groups and anarchist circles -- claim that they never saw a gun, so the cop must have been shot by one of his own. The police say they recovered his gun, can show that he purchased it, and that forensics establish that it was definitely the one that shot the trooper. The protesters say that they haven't seen or independently verified the police's forensics, so they will continue to hold that the trooper was shot by other cops.
It's possible. In the old days we would go to court and hash it out, trusting the jury to make a fair decision. In the current climate, juries and jury pools are selected for being subject to confirmation bias -- and so are prosecutors. Here as in the DC cases we've been watching, the prosecutor from Austin is biased and the jury pool draws from the most left-wing community in Texas.
On Saturday, Abbott wrote Texas has one of the nation’s “strongest ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws of self-defense that cannot be nullified by a jury or a progressive district attorney.”
Noting that, unlike other states, the governor in Texas is only allowed to act on a recommendation from the Board of Pardons and Paroles, Abbott said he had already “made (the pardon) request and instructed the Board to expedite its review.”
Abbott also noted he’s “already prioritized reining in rogue district attorneys,” likely referring to Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza.
This points to a failure of trust in our system so basic as to make certain areas very dangerous even to visit. Armed and violent riots are being coupled with an official system of punishing not the rioters, but anyone who defends themselves. This was prominent in Venezuela, where roving gangs loyal to the Communist government were enforcers of terror, protected by the law rather than restrained by it.
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For an alternate view, Daniel Perry’s Murder Conviction Was Legally Sound. Posted at Legal Insurrection by Andrew Branca.
Though, as Mr Branca notes in the subhead, a pardon is a political rather than a legal act.
That’s not even an alternative view; it’s what I agree we would usually do. The problem is that the law is now another instrument of politics, which is itself a continuation of war by other means (the corollary of Clausewitz).
If enough people begin to feel that their commitment to their cause (or tribe, depending on your point of view) is more important than an oath to tell only the truth, then courtrooms and jury trials will cease to mean anything.
From there, it's not too many steps to anarchy and savagery.
Christopher, that piece seems highly biased to me. Those saying the rifle not pointed *at him* are technically correct, but anyone with experience with guns knows the man shot had initiated the motions one goes through to shoulder the weapon. Should you have to wait until he's actually pointing it at you? That seems a bit late.
The problem here is either jury bias, and/or lack of knowledge of how people move to use a weapon. Possibly also a bad defense. The man's statements prior really aren't a factor if you recognize the movement of the man shot as an aggressive act.
There's also a motion filed for a retrial based on the allegation that the Austin DA withheld exculpatory evidence. Being familiar with Austin politics... that's not too far-fetched to believe.
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