Jury finds Daniel Perry guilty of murder

A Travis County jury on Friday found Uber driver Daniel Perry guilty of murder in the shooting death of Austin protester Garrett Foster in 2020. The jury deliberated 17 hours over two days to reach its decision after an eight-day trial. The jury also found Perry not guilty of an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in connection to driving in front of another protester.

Perry buried his head into the chest of one of his lawyers and sobbed loudly after the verdict was read. Foster's wife, Whitney Mitchell, hugged friends and cried after hearing the verdict.

“We are happy with the verdict and also very sorry for (Perry's) family as well,” Stephen Foster, the victim's father, said outside the courtroom.

Video: Footage shows deadly shooting of Garrett Foster at downtown Austin protest

Mitchell declined to comment.

Perry's relatives also did not talk to reporters as they rushed out of the courtroom.

Garrett Foster's friends, including several who testified during the trial, also declined to comment outside the courtroom after the verdict.

“I’m grateful to our dedicated career prosecutors and victims’ counselors who tried this case. They worked hard to make a complete and accurate presentation of the facts to the jury,” Travis County District Attorney José Garza said in a statement. “Our hearts continue to break for the Foster family. We hope this verdict brings closure and peace to the victim’s family.”

More: Trial in death of Austin protester Garrett Foster begins. Was it self-defense or murder?

Judge Clifford Brown said he has time for sentencing hearing on Tuesday, but he will confirm that on Monday with lawyers for both sides.

During closing arguments on Thursday morning, defense attorneys said Perry had no choice but to shoot Garrett Foster five times as he approached Perry’s car with an AK-47 rifle. Prosecutors said Perry had plenty of choices, including driving away before he fired his revolver.

Perry, who is an Army sergeant, was traveling on Fourth Street on the night of July 25, 2020, and turned right onto Congress Avenue, where a Black Lives Matter crowd was marching. Perry stopped, and several protesters approached his car, including Foster, police have said. Protesters have said they feared they were being attacked by someone in a car. Defense lawyers have said Foster, 28, raised his AK-47 at Perry, and that Perry, 37, fired in self-defense.

Whether Perry, fueled by anti-protester beliefs, provoked the shooting by driving into a crowd of marchers or whether Foster pointed his rifle at Perry and Perry fired in self-defense has been at the heart of the much-anticipated trial that began March 28 in Travis County's 147th District Court.

A few witnesses said during the trial that Foster never raised his rifle at Perry. Perry, who did not testify, told police that Foster did. There was no video or photos presented at the trial that showed the position of Foster's rifle when he was shot.

Prosecutor Guillermo Gonzalez said Perry's posts on social media show he clearly had very strong feelings against protesters, including saying that people could get away with shooting them in Texas. He was angry when he turned into the crowd because a woman he wanted to meet up with had texting him asking for money, said Gonzalez.

"This is an age-old story about a man who couldn't keep his anger under control," said Gonzalez. "It's not about police, and it's not about protest marchers." Gonzalez said Perry committed aggravated assault with a deadly weapon by driving into the crowd even though he could clearly see the protesters marching from three different angles before he turned right on Congress Avenue, Gonzalez said.

"Garrett Foster had every right to go up to him and see what the heck was going on and he had every right to do it with a deadly weapon," Gonzalez said.

Defense attorney Doug O'Connell said prosecutors wanted the jury "to believe (Perry) had this evil plan when he turned right."

"The protesters didn't know anything about Perry when they attacked the car and boxed it in," he said, "and Daniel had no choice, and that could have happened to anyone."

O'Connell argued that Foster was dressed for battle at the protest, including wearing a neoprene vest under his T-shirt and carrying an AK-47, a club and a knife. Perry was wearing a T-shirt, shorts and flip-flops, the attorney said.

"Garrett Foster is dressed for war," O'Connell said. "Daniel Perry is dressed for the beach."

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Daniel Perry verdict: Guilty of murder in Garrett Foster case