HOUSTON – Officials have released Gerald Goines’ mugshot nearly 24 hours after a guilty verdict was returned in the high-profile murder trial in the deadly 2019 Harding Street raid.
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After hours-long deliberations on Wednesday, the ex-Houston Police Department narcotics officer was found guilty in the botched raid that resulted in Dennis Tuttle’s, Rhogena Nicholas’, and their dog’s death.
RELATED: What other Houston officers have been convicted for killing people?
His sentencing phase is expected to begin Thursday morning.
History of cases
Cases against a few other Houston police officers resulted in convictions for negligent homicide.
2005
The latest conviction was in 2005 against Arthur Carbonneau for the fatal 2003 shooting of Eli Escobar.
In that incident, Carbonneau and his partner responded to an assault call at an apartment complex. Carbonneau and his partner knocked on the door of a unit where a suspect was believed to live. Three boys, including Escobar, came out of the apartment.
After entering the apartment and discovering no one else was inside, Carbonneau told the boys to face a wall so they could be searched. During the search, Escobar tried to leave and a struggle ensued between Carbonneau and Escobar. During the struggle, Carbonneau shot Escobar, causing his death. Carbonneau claimed the gun went off accidentally.
Carbonneau was sentenced to 60-days in jail and five years of probation.
1977
The other case where officers were convicted in Houston for someone’s death was in 1977 when Joe Campos Torres, a Vietnam veteran, 23 at the time, was arrested at an East End bar for disorderly conduct. He was severely beaten by Houston Police Department officers and then tossed into Buffalo Bayou. His body was later pulled from the water.
Two arresting officers were charged with Torres’ murder. Both were found guilty of negligent homicide. An all-white jury sentenced the officers: one-year probation and $1 in fines.
The jury’s decision caused great anger in Houston’s Mexican-American community and contributed to the Moody Park riot of 1978, a year after Torres’ murder.
In June of 2021, Houston Police Chief Troy Finner apologized to the Torres family, calling Torres’ killing, “straight-up murder.”