Judge Throws Out Murder Indictments Against Ex-Houston Police Officer Over 2019 Drug Raid

A former Houston police officer who led a 2019 deadly drug raid that prompted a probe which revealed systemic corruption problems within the police department’s narcotics unit and resulted in nearly two dozen convictions being overturned has won a legal victory after a judge dismissed two murder charges he had been facing in the case.

Gerald Goines had been set to go to trial in June on two counts of murder in the January 2019 deaths of Dennis Tuttle, 59, and his wife, Rhogena Nicholas, 58. Prosecutors allege Goines had lied to obtain a search warrant by making up a confidential informant and wrongly portraying the couple as dangerous heroin dealers. This led to a deadly encounter in which Tuttle and Nicholas and their dog were fatally shot and police only found small amounts of marijuana and cocaine in the house. Five officers, including Goines, were injured in the raid.

But during a court hearing Tuesday, state District Judge Veronica Nelson dismissed the two indictments for murder that Goines, 59, faced. Goines has maintained his innocence in the case.

Read the source article at Associated Press