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The Texas Board of Pardons and Lyrics recommended Monday that George Floyd receive a pardon for a 2004 drug arrest in Houston involving a former police officer charged with murder in a separate case.
The seven-member board of directors broke the news in a letter to Allison Mathis, assistant counsel in the Harris County Public Defender’s Office. Mathis filed a pardon request on Floyd’s name earlier this year.
“The members of the Texas Board of Pardons and Lyrics have completed their review of your client’s request for a full pardon and have voted to recommend leniency,” the board wrote. “The matter is referred to the governor for final decision.”
DEREK CHAUVIN APPEALS FOR MURDER IN DEATH OF GEORGE FLOYD, WILL REPRESENT HIMSELF
The fate of grace rests with the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott.
“A man has been trapped by a corrupt policeman with the intention of obtaining arrests rather than pursuing justice. Whatever your political affiliation, it doesn’t matter who this man was in his life or in his death, it doesn’t isn’t something we should be standing up for in the US or Texas, ”Mathis said.
Floyd, who grew up in Houston, was arrested by Officer Gerald Goines in February 2004 for allegedly selling $ 10 worth of crack cocaine. He then pleaded guilty to a drug charge and was sentenced to 10 months in prison.
His May 2020 death at the hands of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin sparked a nationwide toll on police reform and racial injustice. Chauvin was convicted of unintentional second degree murder and sentenced to 22 years in prison for Floyd’s death in June.
“We mourn the loss of former Houstonian George Floyd and hope his family will find solace in Monday’s decision by the Texas State Board of Pardons and Lyrics to recommend clemency for a 2004 conviction involving the former Department of Justice officer. Houston Police Gerald Goines, “Harris County District Attorney. Kim Ogg said in a statement.
Goines, 57, is charged with murder and other crimes in a deadly 2019 drug raid in which Dennis Tuttle, 59, and his wife, Rhogena Nicholas, 58, were killed.
He allegedly lied to obtain the search warrant and 160 drug-related convictions related to him have since been quashed. Other officers linked to the raid have also been charged.
A mural by George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minn. The Texas Board of Pardons and Lyrics recommends that Floyd be pardoned for a 2004 drug arrest in Houston.
(PA)
Mathis said she hopes Abbott grants forgiveness.
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“I also hope that he and the Texas legislature will work more vigorously to reform the integrity of the racist and classist criminal justice system in Texas,” she said.
Fox News has contacted Mathis and Abbott’s office.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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