HOUSTON, Texas – Gerald Goines is a name you’ll be hearing frequently in the coming weeks as he and his legal team prepare for a felony murder trial related to the infamous Harding Street raid.
This trial follows more than five years after the raid, which resulted in the deaths of Dennis Tuttle and his wife, Rhogena Nicholas, and left five officers wounded. Goines, a veteran officer who later retired, was charged that same year with felony murder, tampering with a government record, and engaging in organized criminal activity.
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Goines, who joined the Houston Police Department in 1984, frequently worked undercover in the narcotics division, conducting drug purchases and collaborating with confidential informants to gather intelligence on Houston’s drug dealers.
Goines also prepared the search warrant for the Harding Street raid, claiming that a confidential informant had purchased drugs at the home of Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas. During the raid, which involved a no-knock warrant, Goines was shot in the neck during the exchange of gunfire.
After the raid, Goines admitted that the information in the warrant was false and that there was no confidential informant. Investigators reported that only small amounts of marijuana and cocaine were found in the house.
Goines retired from the Houston Police Department in March 2019.
Months later, in August 2019, he was charged with murder for the deaths of Tuttle and Nicholas. He also faces charges of fabricating evidence that led to the raid, falsifying reports, and participating in a scheme to falsify overtime records of officers involved.
Family and friends of Tuttle and Nicholas have consistently said that the couple, married for 20 years, were not criminals but animal lovers who lived quiet, simple lives before they were killed along with their dog.
Since the deadly raid, an internal investigation into the Houston Police Department’s narcotics division uncovered systemic corruption within the unit.
The botched raid also prompted a deeper investigation into Goines’ past, leading to the exoneration of two men who had been wrongfully convicted based on his testimony. In total, 14,000 cases involving Goines were subjected to review.
Twenty years ago, in 2004, KPRC 2 News learned that George Floyd was arrested by Goines for a drug charge. Floyd’s case was one of the hundreds, prosecutors worked to clear, according to Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg.
Since 2019, the Harris County Public Defender’s Office has represented over 30 individuals in cases related to Goines. Of these cases, 18 were granted relief by the appeals court and subsequently dismissed by the district attorney’s office, while three were overturned by lower trial courts.
In May, five years after the raid, state District Judge Veronica Nelson dismissed the two previous murder indictments against Goines, 59, who has consistently maintained his innocence.
The dismissal came after Goines’ legal team argued that the indictments were flawed, citing the improper use of the underlying charge of tampering with a government record to support the murder charges.
A week later, in April, a grand jury reindicted Goines on the two felony murder counts.
Goines’ trial is expected to begin on September 9, 2024.