Houston cop learns his fate for shooting dead couple in ‘no knock’ raid
A Texas cop has been convicted of killing a couple during a controversial no-announcement drug raid.
Gerald Goines was found guilty of two counts of murder in the January 2019 deaths of Dennis Tuttle, 59, and his wife Rhogena Nicholas, 58.
The couple and their dog were fatally shot after officers entered their home with a search warrant, which did not require them to check in before being allowed inside.
Goines lied to get a search warrant by claiming that a confidential informant had bought heroin at the couple’s Houston home, but he later changed his story.
The investigation into the drug raid also uncovered allegations of systemic corruption, with a dozen officers linked to the narcotics squad that carried out the raid later charged on other charges.
Texas police officer Gerald Goines has been convicted of killing a couple during a controversial no-announcement drug raid
During the raid, U.S. Navy veteran Tuttle exchanged gunfire with police, who shot and killed him and his wife. Their pit bull was also killed.
Goines later said there was no informant and that he had bought the drugs himself. Police found small amounts of marijuana and cocaine in the house, but no heroin.
Goines, once a respected Houston police officer, is accused of falsely arresting people for drug possession after detectives investigated the deadly 2019 incident.
His case was closely investigated and as a result, more than 160 of his convictions, most of them drug-related, were quashed.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has overturned at least 22 convictions related to Goines, who also faces federal charges.
Among the other cases linked to Goines that remain under investigation is his 2004 arrest in Houston on drug charges in the death of George Floyd. In 2020, he was killed by a Minnesota police officer, sparking a nationwide confrontation with racism in policing.
A Texas board in 2022 rejected a request to posthumously pardon Floyd for his drug possession conviction stemming from his arrest by Goines.
Goines was found guilty of two counts of murder in the January 2019 deaths of Dennis Tuttle, 59, and his wife Rhogena Nicholas, 58.
He faces life in prison, with his sentence to be determined by the same jury that convicted him.
During the trial, which began Sept. 9, prosecutors presented testimony and evidence they said showed Goines lied to obtain a search warrant that falsely portrayed the couple as dangerous drug dealers.
Goines faces a possible life sentence. The same jury that convicted him will determine his sentence after hearing additional testimony and evidence during the penalty phase of the trial, which begins Thursday.
During the trial, which began Sept. 9, prosecutors presented testimony and evidence they said showed Goines lied to obtain a search warrant that falsely portrayed the couple as dangerous drug dealers.
During oral arguments in the trial, prosecutor Keaton Forcht said Goines’ actions wrongly led officers to go to the couple’s home, resulting in a violent confrontation in which four officers were shot and wounded and a fifth was injured.
Goines’ attorneys acknowledged that the ex-cop lied to obtain the search warrant, but they minimized the impact of his false statements.
They said his actions did not warrant a murder conviction and that he had been charged too high a sum.
The couple and their dog were fatally shot after officers entered their home with a search warrant, without having to sign in before entering.
The couple’s Houston home on Harding Street, which was shot at during the street fighting,
Officers announced themselves as Houston Police before entering, but when they opened the front door, they said they came under fire
Nicole DeBorde, one of Goines’ attorneys, portrayed the couple as armed drug users and said they were responsible for their own deaths because they shot at officers entering their home.
The Tuttle and Nicholas families have filed federal civil lawsuits against Goines and 12 other officers involved in the raid, as well as the city of Houston. The lawsuits are scheduled to go to trial in November.
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