HOUSTON, Texas – The former partner of the Houston Police Department narcotics officer Gerald Goines charged with murder in connection to the deadly 2019 Harding Street raid, dropped a major discovery during his testimony in the murder trial.
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Two hours into testimonies Thursday, Officer Steven Bryant said one of the HPD narcotics sergeants who carried out the deadly Harding Street raid had on an independent body camera.
KPRC 2 Investigates team Reporter Mario Diaz, Senior Investigates Producer Jason Nguyen, Senior Special Projects Producer Andrea Slaydon, and Digital Content Specialist Ninfa Saavedra will be at the trial dishing out the latest updates for ‘The Bench: Gerald Goines.’
On Monday, the state argued that Goines’ fabricated claims led to the deadly 2019 Harding Street raid that left Dennis Tuttle, Rhogena Nicholas, and their dog dead.
On Wednesday morning, the defense team requested that the full body camera video from HPD Officer Valeriano Rios be played, following the prosecutor’s decision to show only a few minutes of it on Tuesday afternoon. The nearly 45-minute video was presented to the jury during Officer Rios’ cross-examination by defense attorney George Secrest.
The defense questioned Rios throughout the video until it abruptly ended just seconds after former HPD Police Chief Art Acevedo was seen and heard ordering Rios to turn off his camera. Rios testified that he followed Chief Acevedo’s orders, even as the active scene continued to unfold for several more hours.
Also on Wednesday, phone activities and testimonies contradicted Goines’ claims of purchasing drugs from the Tuttle and Nicholas residence the day before the deadly raid. Detective Trenton Bickford presented Goines’ phone activities on Jan. 27, 2019, showing he was not near Harding Street at any time of the day or night.
We also heard from HPD Lt. Richard Bass, who investigated the search warrant issued to Goines, and he testified that Goines admitted there was no confidential informant, contradicting his affidavit. Bass said he conducted over 100 interviews and found no evidence supporting the use of a confidential informant for the Harding Street raid.
Judge Gordon G. Martin, who issued the no-knock warrant, said the warrant was issued based on false information provided by Goines.
5:30 p.m. - Court done for the day. Back Friday at 8:45 a.m.
4:00 p.m. - Court back in session
3:40 p.m. - Court goes on break
2:43 p.m. - State passes witness
Defense attorney Nicole DeBorde started questioning Officer Bryant about the deadly Harding Street raid.
Bryant said he received a call from Goines about an investigation the day before the deadly raid. He said although he was aware there would be a search warrant issued, he was not aware of the address where the warrant would be taking place until the day of.
Bryant said while waiting to grab lunch with Goines, he did a drive-by on the Harding Street home to ensure no obstacles were preventing the narcotics team from serving the search warrant. Bryant said he did not see any obstacles when he conducted the drive-by but did not stop at the home at any time.
During the briefing, Bryant noted that no sergeants raised any concerns about the search warrant.
In the past two years, Bryant said he entered a plea agreement with the state and law enforcement and reviewed, hours of evidence and testimony regarding Harding Street. Bryant said he watched body cam footage of the raid provided by the DA’s office, which made him question what was heard in the videos due to the absence of audible “police” announcements.
On Jan. 28, Bryant said he left the briefing room and rode in the raid van with Sgt. Tommy Wood driving and was assigned to breach the door. During the raid, he said he fell off the porch when gunshots were fired and took a few moments to recover. He said immediately after he heard Frank Medina yell “I’m hit” and described 30 to 40 seconds of gunfire. Bryant, who was not inside the residence, said he did not know who fired first and mentioned thinking Goines was dead.
During re-direct, it was noted that at least six officers went inside the home.
1: 30 p.m. - Court resumes. Officer Bryant resumes testimony
Officer Bryant, who has been testifying for now most of the day, continued his testimony. After dropping several bombshells during his testimony, Bryant returned after lunch and clarified that the body camera video he said Sgt. Reyna wore on the day of the deadly raid, he had not actually seen with his own eyes. He also said he did not know if the information was factual but believed that it was.
After leaving Harding Street, Bryant said he was instructed to drive to HPD’s main headquarters on Travis Street to provide a statement to the Special Investigations Unit (SIU). Bryant said he gave a written statement and reported that Sergeant Reyna was shot in the cheek, officer Cedell Lovings was paralyzed, Officer Frank Medina was shot in the shoulder, and Goines was injured in the neck or face.
Bryant said he received a copy of the search warrant and read it to understand the events that took place -- he said he was concerned he might be named in the search warrant. In a conversation, on Jan 27., 2019 Bryant said Goines mentioned he would handle a buy, which required two officers, and Bryant suspected his name would be included although he did not assist his former partner in the buy.
Bryant was questioned about his name appearing on the warrant and interviewed by HPD’s internal affairs department. Bryant said he did not respond to leadership when they asked him this question because he was unsure of what to say, since he was not actually present during the drug purchase or meeting with the CI.
Bryant said he was tasked with locating Goines’ confidential informant (CI) after the raid. Although Goines, unable to speak verbally due to his hospital condition, wrote down the CI’s name for Bryant, he said the CI was not the actually CI. After discussing with Sergeant Reyna, they stopped searching for the CI and believed there was no CI.
Bryant said he wrote a supplemental report for the original offense report, because he was concerned about its accuracy.
Before leaving Harding Street, he instructed Hodgie Armstrong to check the station for the report to ensure it was filed correctly. He said Armstrong found the report.
The state intended to present a video in court, but the defense objected to its introduction. The video was not allowed to be shown.
12:30 p.m. - Court on lunch break
11:30 a.m. - Officer Steven Bryant continues after breaking down in tears during testimony
Full of emotion, Officer Bryant continued his testimony, saying when SWAT arrived, he was cleaned up and then sent to another location across the street.
After the shooting, Bryant testified that he heard former HPD Chief Art Acevedo tell several officers to turn off their bodycam video, to which they complied. When asked by attorney Manning if this was policy, Bryant testified “We are supposed to keep out bodycams on during a raid.”
Bryant was then asked by attorney Manning if any of the narcotics team had on bodycam video during the raid, Bryant said no but the narcotics team sergeant did have an independent body camera video.
Judge Nelson dismissed the jurors to discuss the discovery.
When attorney Manning asked Bryant if he saw the body camera on the sergeant, he said he did not but he was informed by Officer Felipe Gallegos that the sergeant had on the body camera and he believed the information to be true.
Bryant testified that he never saw the body camera and never saw any footage from the body camera. He also said he’s unaware of what happened to the body camera footage.
At this time, Judge Nelson is trying to locate the body camera video, if possible.
10:33 a.m. - Officer Steven Bryant called to testify
Officer Steven Bryant was Goines’ former partner who was also charged in the deadly Harding Street raid and pleaded guilty in 2021 to the federal charges - alteration or falsification of government records.
Officer Steven Bryant testified about his time working with Goines in 2019. He described their relationship as “co-worker friends” who occasionally met outside work.
Bryant described the HPD narcotics team’s work schedule and overtime policies, noting that overtime pay varied and was approved by their sergeant. He also mentioned that a rule requiring eight monthly arrests had been discontinued.
On Jan. 27, 2019, Goines called Bryant about a “drug buy,” and said he did not need Bryant to go with him. Bryant said he assumed Goines was working with a confidential informant, as departmental policy requires two officers to meet with informants.
The next day, Bryant said he and Goines were supposed to meet for lunch, but Goines was late. Bryant said he then decided to drive by the address for the raid at 7815 Harding Street to check for potential obstacles. During his drive-by of the residence, he said he did not stop and did not note any obstacles. He said he then met Goines for lunch, during which he could not recall if they discussed the warrant, although he did say Goines mentioned delays in getting it signed.
After lunch, Bryant said he and Goines returned to the station. During a briefing led by Goines, Bryant said he was tasked with handling the device used to ram through the door. The raid team, dressed in tactical gear, then proceeded to Harding Street in the department’s raid van. Bryant said the van was parked near the house without lights or sirens, and he said he was unsure about the patrol vehicles having their lights on but vividly remembers no sirens, which was standard when running no-knock warrants.
When arriving at the Harding Street home, Bryant said the narcotics team breached the front door without announcing themselves, which was protocol, so whoever was inside the home did not have time to arm themselves. Bryant said he breached the door, and Officer Frank Medina was the first person through the door and into the house.
Shortly after Medina entered the home, in a matter of seconds, Bryant said he heard a gunshot and assumed Medina shot a dog, but then, seconds later, he heard Medina say he had been hit.
Bryant said he then positioned himself outside of the home in the year and prepared for a gun battle in case a suspect came out of the home.
Bryant said he then noticed his partner, Goines had been shot, so he went to pull him to safety and started rendering aid.
When asked what happened next, Bryant became emotional, which caused Judge Nelson to excuse the jury and give the court a short break so Bryant could gather himself and continue.
10:15 a.m. - Detective Trenton Bickford continues testimony
10:00 a.m. - Court resumes Thursday
Before the jurors were brought into the courtroom, an incident involving a juror and a paralegal was brought before Judge Veronica Nelson. State attorney Tanisha Manning reported that a juror had informed her Thursday about a brief interaction with a paralegal while walking to the courtroom. According to the juror, neither party knew the other’s identity at the time of their conversation.
The paralegal was summoned before Judge Nelson and explained that the juror had complimented her dress and inquired about where she was headed, to which she responded that she was heading to the criminal courthouse.
Judge Nelson determined that this interaction did not warrant the dismissal of the juror.