Amid Gov. Abbott's pardon vow, prosecutors ask judge to sentence Daniel Perry to 25 years

Saying Daniel Perry is a “loaded gun” who could harm others when released from prison, a prosecutor urged a judge on Tuesday to sentence him to at least 25 years behind bars for the 2020 shooting death of Austin protester Garrett Foster.

Defense lawyers argued that Perry, an Army veteran with no criminal history, was not the racist that prosecutors claimed him to be and asked District Judge Clifford Brown to give Perry 10 years after a Travis County jury found him guilty of murder on April 7.

Whatever sentence Perry receives, which Brown is expected to announce at 10 a.m. Wednesday, he might serve little to no time. Gov. Greg Abbott, after facing growing calls from national conservative figures to undo the conviction, posted April 8 on Twitter that he would approve a pardon for Perry if a request was sent to him from the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles.

During closing arguments Tuesday, prosecutor Guillermo Gonzalez said a doctor had testified Tuesday that Perry has autism and post-traumatic stress disorder. He also said that Perry has "lethal" military training.

"This man is a loaded gun ready to go off on any perceived threat that he thinks he has to address," said Gonzalez. "He will do it again. When you look at his social media he had issues with Muslims, transgender people, Black people, Black Lives Matter and protesters. I'm frightened it may lead to another situation like this."

Defense attorney Doug O'Connell said Perry's social media posts were taken out of context, and that defense witnesses who had served with Perry in the Army had testified Tuesday that Perry wasn't a racist.

"He was a trusted brother-in-arms," said O'Connell. "We are asking you to draft a sentence that doesn't crush any hope that Daniel Perry may have that one day he can get out of prison and be with his family."

The prosecution presented a different view Tuesday by showing a cartoon meme Perry posted on Facebook that showed a woman pushing her baby girl's head under the water in a bathtub. Underneath the meme it said, "When your daughter's first crush is a little negro boy."

Perry was working as an Uber driver in Austin when he ran a red light and turned into a Black Lives Matter march on July 25, 2020. He told police that Foster approached his car with a raised AK-47, so he shot Foster, 28, five times with a handgun.

Gonzalez said during closing arguments Tuesday that Perry instigated the incident by running a red light at Fourth Street and Congress Avenue, where he could clearly see the marchers before he drove into them.

'I am a racist': Daniel Perry's social media posts reveal racist comments, anti-protester views

Evidence unsealed after Perry was convicted showed that Perry had said on social media he was a racist.

Greg Hupp, a forensic psychologist hired by the defense, testified in court Tuesday that he had determined that Perry was autistic and had PTSD after he spent six to eight hours examining him. Perry had served in Afghanistan, stood close to a soldier who fatally shot himself and had been bullied as a child, Hupp said. People with autism and PTSD have impaired ways of seeing the world, the psychologist said.

"They tend to look at things in black and white and not a whole lot of gray," said Hupp. People with Perry's problems also have an "us against them" perspective and might feel "the world has been out to get me since I was a little boy," Hupp said.

O'Connell, referring to the meme that Perry posted showing the woman trying to drown her daughter, said there were some things Perry posted on social media that the "average person would find disgusting."

"That's just raw testosterone coming out," said Hupp, who added that he didn't think Perry hated other races.

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Prosecutor Efrain De La Fuente said there was no medical record in the military of Perry being autistic, having PTSD or seeking mental help.

Perry's supervisor at Fort Hood, Kevin Wilcox, testified Tuesday that Perry was hardworking, very caring about his fellow soldiers, kept morale up and was very "happy-go-lucky" most of the time.

"His outlook was positive on most things," Wilcox said.

De La Fuente said that according to Perry's Army evaluation records, he drove around with a bumper sticker that said "F--k the commander-in-chief" and had exercised poor judgment by allowing soldiers to sleep behind a vehicle.

Another defense witness, Ronald Wilson, said he had served with Perry in the Army and that Perry had treated soldiers of all races with dignity and respect. Wilson, who is Black, said he called Perry his "brother." Perry often helped him by lending him money, Wilson said.

Lead detective: I didn't arrest Daniel Perry because self-defense was possibility

"He's done more for me as my brother than anyone else in my family," he said.

"Do you believe Daniel is racist?" O'Connell asked Wilson. "No," said Wilson.

A prosecutor then showed Wilson the meme that Perry had posted of the woman pushing her baby daughter's head under water.

"That doesn't offend me," said Wilson. "Why would it? The way I see it it's a joke."

Wilson also said people in the military have a different "mindset" than civilians and use memes like the one he was shown to deal with the tensions and pressures they face.

Perry's mother, Rachel Perry, testified Tuesday that her son was diagnosed with autism as a child, had a speech impediment and was ostracized in his youth. She said Daniel Perry loved the military because it gave him structure.

Whitney Mitchell, Foster's wife, testified Tuesday that Foster had been her full-time caretaker and helped her in her dress designing career. Mitchell is a quadruple amputee. She said she gave up her career after Foster was killed.

"It's just too awful without him," she said.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Prosecutors ask judge to sentence Daniel Perry to 25 years in prison