By Juan A. Lozano
Associated Press
HOUSTON — A former Houston police officer was convicted Wednesday of murder in the deaths of a couple during a 2019 drug raid that revealed corruption problems within the police department’s narcotics unit.
A jury found Gerald Goines guilty of two counts of murder in the January 2019 deaths of Dennis Tuttle, 59, and his 58-year-old wife Rhogena Nicholas. The couple, along with their dog, were fatally shot after officers entered their home using a “no-knock” warrant that didn’t require them to announce themselves before entering.
Goines faces up to life in prison. The same jury that convicted him after deliberating for less than a full day will also decide his sentence after hearing additional testimony and evidence during the punishment phase set to begin Thursday.
Goines looked down and did not visibly react as the verdict was read. He had been free on bond and was immediately taken into custody.
Nicholas’ family said it was grateful for the jury’s verdict.
“The jury saw this case for what it was: Vicious murders by corrupt police, an epic coverup attempt and a measure of justice at least with Goines. Our quest for justice — and the untangling of the character assassination of Rhogena and Dennis — will continue in the civil courts,” a family statement said.
Prosecutors and Goines’ attorneys were not expected to immediately comment on the verdict because of a judge’s earlier gag order in the case.
After the trial began Sept. 9, prosecutors presented testimony and evidence they said showed Goines lied to get a search warrant that falsely portrayed the couple as dangerous drug dealers.
Prosecutor Keaton Forcht said Goines’ actions wrongly led officers to the couple’s home, resulting in a violent confrontation in which the couple was killed and four officers were shot and wounded and a fifth injured.
Goines’ lawyers had acknowledged the ex-officer lied to get the search warrant but minimized the impact of his false statements. They said his actions did not merit a murder conviction. Nicole DeBorde, one of Goines’ attorneys, portrayed the couple as armed drug users and said they were responsible for their own deaths because they fired at officers.
Prosecutors said Goines falsely claimed an informant had bought heroin at the couple’s home from a man with a gun. Goines would later change his story to claim he had bought the drugs himself but authorities said that also was a lie. After the raid, investigators said they only found small amounts of marijuana and cocaine in the house.
Jeff Wolf, a Texas ranger who investigated the shooting, testified that officers fired first when they entered the home and shot the couple’s dog. Wolf said the gunfire and Nicholas screaming at officers likely resulted in Tuttle coming from his bedroom and opening fire at the officers. Goines’ attorneys have said that officers had identified themselves before entering the home but Wolf testified the couple might never have heard this before gunfire erupted.
Goines’ attorneys argued that the first to fire at another person was Tuttle and not police officers. Prosecutors placed the blame for the shootout on Goines’ actions.
An officer who took part in the raid and the judge who had approved the search warrant testified the raid would never have happened had they known Goines lied to get the warrant.
The probe into the drug raid also uncovered allegations of systemic corruption.
A dozen officers tied to the narcotics squad that conducted the raid, including Goines, were later indicted on other charges following a corruption probe. A judge in June dismissed charges against some of them.
Since the raid, prosecutors have reviewed thousands of cases handled by the narcotics unit.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has overturned at least 22 convictions linked to Goines, who also faces federal charges.
Federal civil rights lawsuits filed by the families of Tuttle and Nicholas against Goines and 12 other officers involved in the raid and the city of Houston are set to be tried in November.