AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- A Travis County district judge has rejected a motion filed by defense attorneys for the man charged with the murder of a protester in downtown Austin last summer.
The motion, filed by attorneys for Sgt. Daniel Perry, included a sworn affidavit from Austin Police homicide detective David Fugitt that alleges he was forced to change his testimony by Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza's office.
"I firmly believe the District Attorney’s Office, acting under the authority of José P. Garza, tampered with me as a witness," wrote Fugitt in the affidavit.
Perry's attorneys have called for the indictment to be dismissed based on the allegations, but District Judge Clifford Brown wouldn't go along with the defense claims.
“I’m just not prepared to jump with you across the chasm that they committed some kind of criminal conduct," said Brown.
Brown did order Garza's office to produce transcripts from the grand jury process, and turn those over to Perry's counsel.
Clint Broden, an attorney for Perry, said he was disappointed in Brown's ruling.
“It is important to recognize that Judge Brown simply concluded that an evidentiary hearing was not needed because prosecutors are not absolutely required to present exculpatory evidence to a grand jury,” Broden said in a statement. “What does not change is that the top homicide detective in the Austin Police Department has now stated unequivocally, under oath that, based upon his 28 years of experience, he believes that Mr. Garza has engaged in the felony offense of witness tampering.”
The next hearing in the case is set for September 15.