George Floyd will not be posthumously pardoned for a 2004 Houston drug charge because the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles withdrew its recommendation, the Dallas Morning News first reported Thursday.
Driving the news: The board had recommended a full pardon for Floyd for the charge, for which he served 10 months in prison. A spokesperson for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) told the Morning News that recommendation "contained procedural errors" and said there had been a "lack of compliance with Board rules."
- "As a result of the Board's withdrawal of the recommendation concerning George Floyd, Governor Abbott did not have the opportunity to consider it," the spokesperson added.
The big picture: Floyd, whose murder by a former Minneapolis police officer sparked global anti-racism protests last year, was arrested during a Houston police sting operation for selling $10 worth of crack, per AP.
- The officer who arrested him, Gerald Goines, is facing two murder charges and has been accused of lying to justify warrants over a 2019 drug raid.
- The Harris County Public Defender's office alleged Goines fabricated a confidential informant in Floyd's case.
What they're saying: Allison Mathis, a Houston public defender who applied for a posthumous pardon for Floyd, told the Morning News the recommendation withdrawal was "outrageous."
- "Greg Abbott and his political appointees have let their politics triumph over the right thing to do and what is clearly is justice," Mathis said.
- "I expected an up or a down vote. I did not expect this kind of misconduct."
Editor's...