AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- A former Army sergeant convicted last month of murdering a protester in downtown Austin in 2020 will now face sentencing, after a motion for a new trial was denied Wednesday.
Sentencing for Daniel Perry, who was convicted by a Travis County jury last month in the murder of Garrett Foster, will begin next Tuesday, May 9, at 9 a.m.
The defense motion seeking a new trial laid out a number of claims, including evidence attorneys say would show that Perry was not the initial aggressor. Attorneys also alleged outside influence on the part of one juror, who allegedly brought his own "outside research" on the state's self-defense laws into deliberations.
Perry was working as an Uber driver on the night of July 25, 2020, when he accidentally turned right on Congress Avenue and drove into a group of protesters. Foster, carrying an AK-47 rifle, was among the group who surrounded Perry's vehicle. Perry said Foster raised the rifle, which prompted him to open fire, shooting Foster five times with his .357 revolver.
Perry has maintained his innocence, saying he fired at Foster in self-defense; prosecutors highlighted a series of social media posts and messages indicating a possibility that the confrontation may have been instigated by Perry.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott weighed in on the case within hours of the verdict being delivered last month, calling on the state's Board of Pardons and Paroles to review the case and that he would sign a pardon for Perry "as soon as it hit [his] desk."
Perry faces up to life in prison.
