HOUSTON, Texas – On Monday, former Houston Police Department Narcotics Officer Gerald Goines will go on trial for the shooting deaths of Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas.
The homeowners were killed in January 2019 during a botched HPD raid when officers busted into their home unannounced through a no-knock warrant.
KPRC 2 will take you inside the case through our original series “The Bench,” hosted by Investigative Reporter Mario Diaz. In the days leading up to the trial and during, you’ll hear from our panel of experts and several Houston area criminal defense attorneys about what’s to come and what’s happening.
So, what impact will this trial have on Houstonians? KRPC 2 Investigates reporter Mario Diaz asked this same question of four criminal defense attorneys. All provided a different perspective.
“It’s two-fold, one ensuring that there isn’t government overreach, that if the DA’s Office has charged too egregiously or too strong if it is vindictive that there is a trial and a time for Nicole DeBorde to put them back in their place,” said criminal defense attorney Erin Epley. “It also means for Houstonians that if law enforcement, in any capacity, for any reason, thinks that they can play with the process, the rules and right that we all rely upon, that they also are put back in their place.”
After the deadly raid came questions about what exactly went wrong. Several things were brought to light, including the inconsistencies in the department’s narcotics division and how no-knock warrants were obtained.
On Feb. 15, 2019, an affidavit was released, showing that HPD cops manufactured an unlawful warrant giving officers the green light to go in without knocking. But despite this information, former top cop Art Acevedo backed his department’s actions, even calling the officers “heroes.”
It was only a few weeks later, that Acevedo was left eating those words when KPRC 2 Investigates discovered that Goines was being investigated for allegedly fabricating the warrant used for the deadly raid.
Goines retired while his partner, Steven Bryant, eventually entered a guilty plea on federal charges tied to the raid. The raid resulted in officers leaving the department as well as changes in policy.
“It should tell everybody what I’ve known for a long time, which is and what I said a few moments ago, police officers are not perfect, they are just people. There are really, really good ones and there are really, really bad ones. So when the really, really bad ones do really, really bad things then it’s ok to hold them accountable for what they’ve done and that needs to be the main lesson here,” said criminal defense attorney Joe Vinas.
After charges were filed against Goines and Bryant, the investigation into HPD’s narcotics division led to the dismissal of several court cases where Goines led the arrest or investigation. More than 1,000 Goines cases were reviewed, according to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.
Also, several others were charged in connection to the raid following investigation by the Harris County District Attorney’s Office over allegations of an overtime scheme.
“I think that all of Houston wants to be safe in their home and wants to believe that the people that are supposed to protect us are protecting us in the right way,” said criminal defense attorney Angela Weltin. “I think the impact is that it opens our eyes even more, that there are times when that goes wrong but it also gives us a platform and it gives us tools to ensure that this will never happen again here in Houston, period.”
However, despite the charges, the Tuttle and Nicholas families have yet to see any justice in state court.
In June, the judge overseeing many of the charges against the officers charged after the botched raid, quashed multiple charges. Specifically, the officers who were charged with an alleged overtime scheme. The judge ruled that the indictments were too broad.
A few months prior, two felony indictments against Goines were also quashed by Judge Veronica Nelson. Goines’ attorneys had filed a motion asking the Harris County judge to drop the indictments against their client, arguing they lacked specific details regarding the laws he violated that resulted in the felony murder charges. The motion pointed out that although the indictment mentioned a charge of tampering with a government record, it did not specify which of the six tampering statute subsections Goines was accused of violating. A week later, Goines was re-indicted on the two felony charges by a Grand Jury.
Now, over five years later, Goines is finally headed to trial.
“It is going to change the way that Houstonians view law enforcement because if he is found guilty, we have rogue police officers out there who are being unchecked and unsupervised and that is very concerning for citizens of Harris County,” said criminal attorney Joe Vinas.
This trial will bring many things to light for the city of Houston and its police department. It’ll also cost Houstonians. In January, we learned taxpayers will have to cover at least $2.9 million in expenses for the city and former chief Acevedo to fight the Tuttle and Nicholas families in a legal battle.