George Floyd could be pardoned posthumously for a drug arrest almost 20 years ago made by a disgraced ex-Houston police officer with Texas...
George Floyd could be pardoned posthumously for a drug arrest almost 20 years ago made by a disgraced ex-Houston police officer with Texas Governor now weighing up the case.
Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles recommended the pardon to Abbott in October.
He is known to pardon a handful of ordinary citizens - typically for minor offences committed years ago - every Christmas as part of a holiday tradition. However, he has yet to announce his decision.
Floyd, whose death at the hands of white Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin last year at the age of just 46 sparked worldwide protests against police brutality, was arrested by Officer Gerald Goines in 2004.
He was accused of selling $10 worth of crack and sentenced to ten months in a state jail after pleading guilty to a drug charge.
George Floyd (pictured left), who grew up in Houston, was arrested in February 2004 by Officer Gerald Goines (pictured right) and accused of selling $10 worth of crack in a police sting. Floyd later pleaded guilty to a drug charge and was sentenced to 10 months in a state jail
Doling out pardons is a holiday tradition for Governor Abbott, who around every Christmas grants them to a handful of ordinary citizens, typically for minor offenses committed years or decades ago.
The two-term Republican governor is up for reelection in 2022 and has given no indication of whether he will grant what would be only the second posthumous pardon in Texas history.
Floyd, who was Black, spent much of his life in Houston before moving to Minnesota, where his death under the knee of a white police officer last year led to a U.S. reckoning on race and policing.
Political observers are watching whether Texas Governor Greg Abbott (pictured) will posthumously pardon George Floyd for a 2004 arrest before the end of the year
Floyd, who was Black, spent much of his life in Houston before moving to Minnesota, where his death under the knee of a white police officer last year led to a U.S. reckoning on race and policing
Allison Mathis is a public defender in Houston who submitted Floyd's pardon application.
She said: 'It doesn't matter who you think George Floyd was, or what you think he stood for or didn't stand for.
'What matters is he didn't do this. It´s important for the governor to correct the record to show he didn't do this.'
A spokeswoman for Abbott did not respond to requests for comment.
Pardons restore the rights of the convicted and forgive them in the eyes of the law.
Floyd´s family and supporters said a posthumous pardon for him in Texas would show a commitment to accountability.
In February 2004, Floyd was arrested in Houston for selling $10 worth of crack in a police sting. He pleaded guilty to a drug charge and served 10 months in prison.
Former Houston police officer Gerald Goines arrives at the 338th District Criminal Court in January last year
His case was among dozens prosecutors revisited in the fallout over a deadly drug raid in 2019 that resulted in murder charges against an officer, Gerald Goines, who is no longer with the Houston force.
Prosecutors say Goines lied to obtain a search warrant in the 2019 raid that left a husband and wife dead.
Since Goines was discredited, the office of Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg has since dismissed more than 160 drug convictions tied to Goines.
Officer Gerald Goines’ casework has been under scrutiny following a deadly 2019 drug raid he led that resulted in the deaths of Dennis Tuttle, 59 (left), and his wife, Rhogena Nicholas, 58 (right)
'We lament the loss of former Houstonian George Floyd and hope that his family finds comfort in Monday’s decision,' wrote Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg in an October 4 press release
Goines has pleaded not guilty and his attorneys accuse Ogg of launching the review for political gain.
Abbott has several primary challengers from the far right, and his ongoing silence about a potential pardon for Floyd has raised questions by Mathis and others over whether political calculations are at play.
Abbott attended Floyd´s memorial service last year in Houston, where he met with the family and floated the idea of a 'George Floyd Act' that would take aim at police brutality.
Protesters march in downtown Brooklyn over the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis Police officer on June 05, 2020 in New York City
A Black Lives Matter protest march going through Regent Street in London, on June 21, 2020
Protesters participate in a Black Lives Matter rally in Sydney, Saturday, June 6, 2020 against the deaths of Aboriginal people in custody and solidarity with the US protests for George Floyd
Yet Abbott never publicly supported such a measure months later when lawmakers returned to the Capitol, where Republicans instead made police funding a priority.
State Senator Royce West, a Democrat who carried the 'George Floyd Act' in the Senate, said he understands the politics if Abbott was waiting until after the GOP primary elections in March. But he said the governor should act on the recommendation.
'As he's always said, he is a law and order governor,' West said. 'This would be following the law.'
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