Judge Carlos Barrera has refused to move former Army Sergeant Daniel Perry’s “deadly conduct” case from Travis County’s criminal court despite concerns that he cannot be guaranteed a fair jury trial.
A Travis County jury had previously sentenced Perry to 25 years in prison for murder after District Attorney Jose Garza prosecuted Perry for shooting and killing an armed Black Lives Matter protester. The event occurred in July 2020 during a protest in downtown Austin. Gov. Greg Abbott pardoned Perry in May 2024.
However, even if a person is pardoned for a felony, they can still be prosecuted by the county attorney for additional misdemeanors stemming from the same incident.
Thus, Perry is still being prosecuted for his actions, this time for “deadly conduct,” a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail. Travis County Attorney Delia Garza’s Office—which is prosecuting Perry for this lesser charge—claims that the use of his vehicle leading up to the 2020 altercation endangered bystanders. Perry was driving for Uber at the time of the event.
Texas Scorecard was in attendance during Tuesday’s hearing, in which both parties requested a decision on Perry’s motion to change venue. Judge Barrera appeared confused and said he had not heard any convincing argument in favor of changing venues.
Doug O’Connell—Perry’s attorney—asked Judge Barrera if he had received their most recent filing, which argued the 1995 Selena case set the precedent to move Perry’s case to a different court.
Due to murdered singer Selena Quintanilla-Pérez’s immense popularity and beloved status in Corpus Christi and Nueces County, Judge Mike Westergren approved a venue change for the trial. The defense argued that it would have been impossible to seat an impartial jury locally because Selena was so cherished, and the case had received widespread media coverage.
Barrera responded that he had not received any filings from the clerk.
“That makes me concerned for everything we did file,” said O’Connell.
The filing was immediately sent to Judge Barrera, who reviewed it briefly but claimed he had not read the opinion of the Selena case.
Regardless, he argued that since the Selena case was moved due to her being universally loved in that county, it had no relevance to the case at hand.
O’Connell pointed out that since Perry is “universally hated in this town,” the Selena case is indeed relevant.
Afton Washbourne—representing the county attorney’s office—used this opportunity to take a political jab at Gov. Greg Abbott, claiming Perry is not universally hated because “somebody in the governor’s mansion” loves him. Texas Scorecard reached out to Washbourne to confirm her statement, but did not receive a response by publication.
Judge Barrera argued that he did not believe a change of venue was called for since Perry’s case is a statewide—if not nationwide—controversy. Since everybody has access to the internet, he reasoned a change in venue would not remove the problem. Barrera also said he did not want to set the precedent for changing venues any time there was a case involving “political considerations.”
O’Connell addressed Judge Barrera directly, arguing that “respectfully, the court is missing the point,” and that the only consideration should be whether the court can guarantee Daniel Perry will receive a fair jury trial in Travis County.
He also argued that access to the internet has no place as a consideration for this argument.
The next pretrial hearing is scheduled for September 29 at 1 p.m. Perry himself is excused from attending.
Both parties refused to comment on pending litigation.
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