Houston — On Tuesday, a former Houston police officer was sentenced to 60 years in prison for the murder of a married couple during a cocaine raid, which exposed systematic corruption in the department’s narcotics unit and provoked criticism of the agency and its tactics.
Gerald Goines was convicted of the January 2019 deaths of Dennis Tuttle, 59, and Rhogena Nicholas, 58. The couple and their dog were shot after officers broke into their home with a “no-knock” warrant that did not require them to announce themselves before entering.
Prosecutors claimed Goines lied to obtain the search warrant, and that his actions were part of a pattern of erroneous narcotics arrests and convictions of innocent people over his 34-year law enforcement career.
“Gerald Goines has been a stain on the reputation of every honest cop in our community, a community that he terrorized through corruption worthy of the movie ‘Training Day,'” said Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg.
Goines, 60, glanced down but had no evident reaction as he heard the sentences for each count of murder, which will be served concurrently. The jury punished him $20,000 after deliberating on his sentencing for more than ten hours over two days. Legal experts say it is unusual for a police officer to be accused and convicted of an on-duty killing.
Goines did not make eye contact with Ryan Tuttle, who appeared on the witness stand after the punishment, holding a framed portrait of his father and stepmother, and said his family was still waiting for answers from the ex-officer about why he targeted the couple. Goines, who had not testified during the month-long trial, remained mute.
“My father and stepmother did not engage in any drug dealing. They were good people. “They didn’t deserve this,” Ryan Tuttle muttered, staring at Goines as he walked away.
During closing arguments in the trial’s sentencing phase, prosecutors requested a life sentence. Goines’ attorneys had requested a minimum sentence of five years, claiming that he had dedicated his life to keeping drugs off the streets.
“We still don’t believe legally that he is guilty of felony murder, and we look forward to having the appellate courts review this,” one of Goines’ attorneys, Nicole DeBorde, told reporters after the sentence was announced.
Goines had been out on bond since being indicted, but he was arrested after the same jury found him guilty last month.
Prosecutors believe Goines falsely claimed an informant acquired heroin at the couple’s home from a man with a gun, sparking the violent confrontation in which the couple was slain and four officers, including Goines, were shot and wounded, with a fifth injured. A Texas Ranger who investigated the raid stated that the cops opened fire first, killing the dog and possibly precipitating Tuttle’s firing.
His lawyers admitted he lied to obtain the search order but attempted to minimize the consequences. Two witnesses, a fellow cop and the judge who approved the warrant, said the raid would not have occurred if Goines had told the truth.
Investigators ultimately discovered just trace amounts of marijuana and cocaine in the home, and while Houston’s police chief at the time, Art Acevedo, originally praised Goines as “tough as nails,” he later suspended him after the lies were revealed. Goines later retired while the investigations continued.
The investigation into the narcotics seizure turned up charges of much deeper mischief. Goines was one of a dozen drugs squad policemen who were eventually indicted on additional offenses. A court rejected some of the accusations, but after reviewing thousands of cases involving the unit, prosecutors dismissed many of them, and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals reversed at least 22 convictions related to Goines.
Ryan Tuttle expressed hope that the deaths of his father and stepmother will push police reform not only in Houston but across the country.
“If it’s happening in Houston, it’s happening everywhere,” Tuttle reiterated. “We have to make sure this stops.”
Ogg stated that the police department evaluated numerous practices following the raid, but that a comprehensive overhaul of narcotics enforcement by the agency had yet to occur.
An audit of the narcotics unit conducted following the raid discovered that officers made hundreds of mistakes in cases, were often insufficiently thorough in their investigations, and lacked oversight.
Houston police issued a brief statement following the jury’s punishment, saying, “We respect the jury’s decision in the Gerald Goines trial and thank the jurors for their time and service.”
“This is not an indictment of police officers.” There are 99% honorable police officers. This was also about sending a message to them, saying that we believe in and support them. “We do not support corruption,” stated prosecutor Tanisha Manning.
Goines also arrested George Floyd for drugs in Houston in 2004, whose death at the hands of a Minnesota police officer in 2020 caused a national crisis of racism in policing. In 2022, a Texas board refused Floyd’s request for a posthumous pardon for his narcotics conviction.
Goines also faces federal criminal charges in connection with the raid, and the families of Tuttle and Nicholas have filed federal civil rights claims against Goines, 12 other officers, and the city of Houston, which are scheduled to be prosecuted in November.
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