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Court rejects DA request to deny Abbott's pardon of Daniel Perry.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied the request without explanation. All nine judges are Republican.
Published June 27, 2024 at 12:23pm by Skye Seipp
Texas’ highest criminal court rejects DA’s attempt to overturn Gov. Abbott’s pardon in Mike Ramos killing
by Aleksandra Sava, Austin American-Statesman
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Wednesday [https://www.txcourts.gov/media/1447877/wr-99-999-01.pdf] rejected Travis County District Attorney José Garza's request to overturn Gov. Greg Abbott's pardon of Daniel Perry, who was convicted of killing a Black Lives Matter protester in 2020.
"We deny leave to file." - Texas Court of Criminal Appeals [https://www.txcourts.gov/media/1447877/wr-99-999-01.pdf]
The nine Republican judges offered no explanation for their decision, which comes nearly three weeks after Garza announced his office would challenge the pardon.
"The governor, in pardoning Mr. Perry, exceeded his authority and violated the separation of powers doctrine." - Holly Taylor, director of public integrity and complex crimes for the district attorney's office. [https://twitter.com/TravisDA/status/1518599480961863684]
Perry was convicted by a Travis County jury last year, and less than 24 hours later, Abbott said he would pardon him if a recommendation came to him. Conservative pundits had urged Abbott to act.
Abbott pardoned Perry on April 16.
Last month, 14 Democratic state attorneys general called on the Department of Justice and U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to probe Perry's case, citing Abbott's pardon.
Investigations editor Tony Plohetski contributed to this report.
Read more: Travis County DA's request to undo Abbott's pardon of Daniel Perry denied by state court