SAN ANTONIO – A man who was sentenced to 99 years in prison after a jury found him guilty of injury to a child had his case overturned by an appeals court, granting him a new trial.
Terrance Harper was found guilty in December 2022 of beating his infant son in 2018.
An appeal was made by Harper’s attorney, and this week an appeals court ruled in his favor.
According to Harper’s attorney John Hunter, the defense team had several issues with what he said were errors made during the trial.
The main error Hunter pointed out was that Harper’s defense team was not allowed to put an expert witness on the stand via Zoom.
“If you’re accused of doing something, you have the right to put on evidence and to present testimony, to try and rebut that allegation,” Hunter said. “That’s a fundamental right that we all have living in this country. And so, it’s not just about Zoom versus in-person testimony, it was about Mr. Harper’s constitutional right to present a defense.”
Special prosecutor Daniel De La Garza was assigned the case after Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales recused himself because he was Harper’s attorney before he won the 2018 election.
De La Garza can appeal the courts decision but if he doesn’t a retrial could take place as early as this fall.
Harper is also awaiting to stand trial on a separate capital murder of a child under 10 charge.
The 2019 case led police to reopen the 2012 child death case in which an infant died, allegedly in Harper’s care. The incident was initially ruled an accident. An indictment stated that Harper struck the infant with an unknown object, shook him and threw him against a wall and floor.
The capital murder case will not move forward until the injury to a child case is resolved.