HOUSTON – Harris County prosecutors sent a letter Thursday to the Houston Police Department, urging the agency to hand over documents requested as part of the investigation into the botched Harding Street raid.
In the letter written by Assistant District Attorney Natasha Sinclair to Assistant Chief Lopez, prosecutors said that it has been more than six weeks since they requested documents pertaining to confidential informants used by the department’s narcotics division dating back to 2014.
“These records pertain, but are not limited, to such matters as the names of informants, locations of buys, payouts to those informants, who approved those payments and who signed off on any operations,” Sinclair wrote. “This information is crucial to our ongoing review of hundreds of warrants and controlled buys executed by the HPD Narcotics Division and specifically the Goines investigation.”
DOCUMENT: Read June 20 letter sent to HPD by prosecutors
Officer Gerald Goines is accused of lying on the affidavit used to get a no-knock warrant that led to the Jan. 28 raid at 7815 Harding St. According to investigators, illegal drugs were purchased at the home by an informant.
Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas, who lived at the home, were killed during the raid.
In the letter, Sinclair asks HPD to turn over the requested records by Monday or be served with subpoenas the following day.
Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo announced in May that the department had completed its internal investigation of the raid.
KPRC2 has reached out to HPD for comment about Thursday's letter. The department sent out the following tweet:
Statement from Chief @ArtAcevedo pic.twitter.com/G00PrV9PAp
— Houston Police (@houstonpolice) June 20, 2019