HOUSTON (AP) — A former Houston police officer is responsible for the 2019 deaths of a couple during a raid of their home because his lies on a search warrant wrongly portrayed them as dangerous drug dealers, a prosecutor told jurors on Monday.
An attorney for the former officer, Gerald Goines, admitted her client lied to get the search warrant but said his actions do not merit a murder conviction, and placed the blame for the deaths on the couple.
Goines is charged with two counts of murder in the January 2019 deaths of Dennis Tuttle, 59, and his 58-year-old wife Rhogena Nicholas. Goines has pleaded not guilty.
The couple, along with their dog, were killed after officers burst into their home using a “no-knock” warrant that didn’t require them to announce themselves before entering. Goines secured the warrant from a judge.
During opening statements in the trial, prosecutor Keaton Forcht told jurors that Goines, 59, had lied to get the warrant by falsely claiming that 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 say that was also a lie.
Forcht said authorities were first directed to investigate Tuttle and Nicholas after a neighbor falsely claimed on 911 calls that her daughter was being given heroin by the couple at their home. The neighbor was later convicted in federal court for those false claims.
“It’s based on lie after lie after lie,” said Forcht, with the Harris County District Attorney's Office.
Authorities found no evidence that Goines, with the narcotics unit, had investigated the neighbor’s claims, sent an informant to buy drugs or had himself gone to the home, Forcht said.
Goines created an environment “clearly dangerous to human life” by claiming the “no-knock” warrant was needed because officers would be in serious danger from the couple, Forcht said. Investigators later said they only found small amounts of marijuana and cocaine in the house.
Forcht said officers immediately fired their guns upon entering the home. Nicholas, who had cancer, had been sitting on her couch watching television while her husband was asleep in a bedroom, he said.
“But for the actions of Gerald Goines, those two homeowners would still be alive,” Forcht said.
The prosecution’s first witness, Sarah Sanchez, a neighbor and friend, portrayed the couple as people who mainly kept to themselves, had various health problems, lived on a fixed income and loved their dogs.
Goines’ lawyer, Nicole DeBorde, admitted to jurors that her client had lied to obtain the search warrant but, she said, prosecutors had overcharged him for his actions.
“He didn’t murder anybody. He is not legally responsible for murder,” DeBorde said. “This is the case of the wrong charges being filed. There are other consequences for him.”
DeBorde said Nicholas and Tuttle were responsible for their own deaths. Tuttle fired at officers who had identified themselves after coming in, wounding four of them, she said. A fifth officer was also injured during the raid.
“Nicholas’ choices to not respond to instructions by police and to try and grab the gun of a fallen officer is the cause of her death,” DeBorde said.
During afternoon testimony, Goines’ lawyers suggested that the couple were aware that it was police officers who had entered their home because they identified themselves as such and wore tactical gear that bore the word “police.”
Forcht said Tuttle might not have been focused on or been able to read the shirt of the person who had entered his home and fatally shot his wife and dog.
DeBorde has accused prosecutors of generating excess publicity in the case, preventing Goines from getting a fair trial.
If convicted, Goines faces up to life in prison.
Testimony in the trial was to resume Tuesday.
Michael Wynne, a Houston-based criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor not connected to the case, said Goines will have too many hurdles to overcome during his trial.
“Mr. Goines has the best counsel you could possibly get,” Wynne said. “But I think they got an uphill battle here.”
The probe into the drug raid also uncovered allegations of systemic corruption.
A dozen officers tied to the narcotics squad that carried out 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.
One of the other cases tied to Goines that remains under scrutiny is his 2004 drug arrest in Houston of George Floyd, whose 2020 death at the hands of a Minnesota police officer sparked a nationwide reckoning on racism in policing. A Texas board in 2022 declined a request that Floyd be granted a posthumous pardon for his drug conviction stemming from his arrest by Goines.
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