Former Houston officer convicted of murder in deaths of couple during drug raid

[September 26, 2024]  By JUAN A. LOZANO

HOUSTON (AP) — A former Houston police officer was convicted Wednesday of murder in the deaths of a couple during a 2019 drug raid that revealed systemic corruption problems within the police department’s narcotics unit.

A jury found Gerald Goines guilty of two counts of murder in the January 2019 deaths of Dennis Tuttle, 59, and his 58-year-old wife Rhogena Nicholas. The couple, along with their dog, were fatally shot after officers burst into their home using a “no-knock” warrant that didn’t require them to announce themselves before entering.

Goines faces up to life in prison. The same jury that convicted him after deliberating for less than a full day will also decide his sentence after hearing additional testimony and evidence during the punishment phase set to begin Thursday.

Goines looked down and did not visibly react as the verdict was read. He had been free on bond and was immediately taken into custody.

Nicholas' family said it was grateful for the jury's verdict.

“The jury saw this case for what it was: Vicious murders by corrupt police, an epic coverup attempt and a measure of justice at least with Goines. Our quest for justice — and the untangling of the character assassination of Rhogena and Dennis — will continue in the civil courts,” a family statement said.

Prosecutors and Goines' attorneys were not expected to immediately comment on the verdict because of a judge's earlier gag order in the case.

One community organization said Wednesday that Goines' actions and other similar problems within the police department have “created a public safety threat for officers and Houstonians.”

“We are elated! After nearly six long, painful years, the families of Rhogena and Dennis have finally gotten justice for their loved ones, who were shot and killed in their own home by unbridled, out-of-control HPD officers after a botched ‘No Knock’ drug raid,” We the People Organize said in a statement.

After the trial began Sept. 9, prosecutors presented testimony and evidence they said showed Goines lied to get a search warrant that falsely portrayed the couple as dangerous drug dealers.

Prosecutor Keaton Forcht said Goines’ actions wrongly led officers to the couple’s home, resulting in a violent confrontation in which the couple was killed and four officers were shot and wounded and a fifth injured.

Goines’ lawyers had acknowledged the ex-officer lied to get the search warrant but minimized the impact of his false statements. They said his actions did not merit a murder conviction. Nicole DeBorde, one of Goines’ attorneys, portrayed the couple as armed drug users and said they were responsible for their own deaths because they fired at officers.

Former Houston police officer Gerald Goines, middle left, is taken into custody and his defense attorneys Reagan Wynn, front center, and Nicole DeBorde Hochglaube, second right, react to the guilty verdict in his murder trial in the 482nd District Court at the Harris County Criminal courthouse Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, in Houston. (Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle via AP, Pool)

Prosecutors said Goines falsely claimed an informant had bought heroin at the couple’s home from a man with a gun. Goines would later change his story to claim he had bought the drugs himself but authorities said that also was a lie. After the raid, investigators said they only found small amounts of marijuana and cocaine in the house.

Jeff Wolf, a Texas ranger who investigated the shooting, testified that officers fired first when they entered the home and shot the couple’s dog. Wolf said the gunfire and Nicholas screaming at officers likely resulted in Tuttle coming from his bedroom and opening fire at the officers. Goines’ attorneys have said that officers had identified themselves before entering the home but Wolf testified the couple might never have heard this before gunfire erupted.

Goines’ attorneys argued that the first to fire at another person was Tuttle and not police officers. Prosecutors placed the blame for the shootout on Goines’ actions.

An officer who took part in the raid and the judge who had approved the search warrant testified the raid would never have happened had they known Goines lied to get the warrant.

The probe into the drug raid also uncovered allegations of systemic corruption.

A dozen officers tied to the narcotics squad that conducted the raid, including Goines, were later indicted on other charges following a corruption probe. A judge in June dismissed charges against some of them.

Since the raid, prosecutors have reviewed thousands of cases handled by the narcotics unit.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has overturned at least 22 convictions linked to Goines, who also faces federal charges.

One of the other cases tied to Goines is his 2004 drug arrest in Houston of George Floyd, whose 2020 death at the hands of a Minnesota police officer sparked a nationwide reckoning on racism in policing. A Texas board in 2022 declined a request that Floyd be granted a posthumous pardon for his drug conviction stemming from his arrest by Goines.

Federal civil rights lawsuits filed by the families of Tuttle and Nicholas against Goines and 12 other officers involved in the raid and the city of Houston are set to be tried in November.

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