Texas court denies request to reconsider governor's pardon in BLM demonstrator's killing

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas appeals court on Wednesday denied a request to consider whether to reverse Gov. Greg Abbott’s pardon of a man who was convicted of killing a Black Lives Matter demonstrator.

The decision from the the all-Republican Court of Criminal Appeals on Wednesday at least temporarily blocked a prosecutor’s claims that the governor overstepped his pardon authority under the state constitution and undermined the appeals process in the politically charged case.

The court issued its decision without explanation. It was not immediately clear if Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza would ask the court to reconsider the decision and continue his attempts to reverse the pardon.

Abbott, a Republican, pardoned Daniel Perry in May in the 2020 shooting death of Air Force veteran Garrett Foster at a downtown Austin demonstration, one of many nationwide at the time to protest against police violence and racial injustice following the killing of George Floyd by a white police officer in Minneapolis.

Perry, a white ride-share driver, said he accidentally drove into the rally, where he encountered Foster, who also was white and was legally carrying a rifle. Perry said Foster pointed a rifle at him, but witnesses told police Foster did not raise his weapon.

A jury had convicted Perry of murder, and he was sentenced to 25 years in prison. But Perry was released within hours after the pardon was issued. Garza and Foster's family want him sent back to prison.

Abbott supported Perry’s claim that he acted in self-defense and said the state’s “Stand Your Ground” laws should have protected him from prosecution.

Nationally prominent conservatives had rallied behind Perry, and Garza accused Abbott of issuing a politically motivated pardon.

Foster’s mother, Sheila Foster, has called the pardon “absolutely unacceptable to our family.”

Garza has said he believes the case is unique in state history, from the rapid request for a pardon and its approval, to his request for the appeals court to intervene.

Abbott has said his constitutional pardon powers are clear.

“NOT GONNA HAPPEN,” the governor posted on X shortly after Garza announced his plans to seek a reversal.

Prior to sentencing, the court unsealed dozens of pages of text messages and social media posts that showed Perry had hostile views toward Black Lives Matter protests.

In May this year, 14 Democratic state attorneys general said the U.S. Justice Department should investigate whether Perry denied Foster his right to free speech and peaceful protest.

Perry served in the Army for more than a decade. At trial, a forensic psychologist testified that he believed Perry has post-traumatic stress disorder from his deployment to Afghanistan and from being bullied as a child. At the time of the shooting, Perry was stationed at Fort Cavazos, then Fort Hood, about 70 miles (110 kilometers) north of Austin.

FILE - Daniel Perry enters the courtroom at the Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center, May 10, 2023, in Austin, Texas. A Texas appeals court on Wednesday, June 26, 2024, denied a request to consider whether to reverse Gov. Greg Abbott’s pardon of Perry, who was convicted of killing a Black Lives Matter demonstrator. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP, Pool, File)

PANAMA CITY (AP) — A judge has acquitted 28 people accused of money laundering in an international case known as the Panama Papers, including the co-founder of a law firm that authorities say was at the center of a conspiracy to hide money linked to illegal activities.

Jürgen Mossack founded Mossack & Fonseca with then associate Ramón Fonseca, who died in May. Mossack was acquitted on Friday along with others after a Panamanian judge found that the evidence against Mossack didn't comply with the chain of custody after authorities raided the office of the now defunct firm.

Prosecutors had accused Mossack, Fonseca and others of creating offshore companies and using complex transactions to hide money from illegal activities related to the so-called car wash corruption scandal involving Brazilian construction company Odebrecht, which pleaded guilty in U.S. federal court to a charge related to using shell companies to hide millions of dollars in bribes paid worldwide to win public contracts.

The judge noted that other evidence in the Panama Papers case “was not sufficient and conclusive to determine the criminal responsibility of the accused.”

In addition, the judge lifted personal and property precautionary measures against all the defendants, according to a judicial statement.

“We feel satisfied in the midst of mixed emotions, because many lives were affected along the way,” Guillermina Mc Donald, who was the defense attorney for Mossack and Fonseca, told The Associated Press. Her firm also represented 80% of the accused firm’s collaborators.

Judge Balaoisa Marquínez had decided to combine the Panama Papers case with another known as “Operation Car Wash,” a major anti-corruption investigation that began in Brazil.

On Friday, she ruled that in the car wash case, “it was not possible to determine the entry of money from illicit sources, coming from Brazil, into the Panamanian financial system with the purpose of hiding, concealing, disguising or helping to evade the legal consequences of the preceding crime.”

In June 2022, Mossack, Fonseca and 37 other people were acquitted in a separate money laundering case.

The investigation in Brazil began in 2014, with the Mossack & Fonseca firm later coming under scrutiny after 11 million financial documents tied to the company were leaked.

The repercussions of the leak were widespread: it led to the resignation of a prime minister in Iceland and brought scrutiny to now former leaders of Argentina and Ukraine, Chinese politicians and Russian President Vladimir Putin, among others.

FILE - Juergen Mossack, partner of the law firm Mossack-Fonseca, leaves the Supreme Court during the trial of the "Panama Papers" money laundering case in Panama City, April 8, 2024. On Friday, a Panamanian judge acquitted Mossack and 27 other people who were accused of money laundering in the notorious Panama Papers case. (AP Photo/Agustin Herrera, File)