Jury selection begins in murder trial of former Houston police officer Gerald Goines – Houston Public Media

Jury selection is underway in the murder trial of former Houston police officer Gerald Goines, who led a botched drug raid in 2019 that left a couple dead on Harding Street.

The jury selection process began last week, when attorneys began interviewing 120 potential jurors. By Tuesday, they had whittled that number down to 42. They will now move on to individual interviews with defense attorneys and prosecutors.

The trial is expected to wrap up by June 19, according to Joe Stinebaker, spokesman for the Harris County District Attorney’s Office. The trial is currently scheduled for early September.

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On Jan. 28, 2019, HPD Narcotics Squad 15 executed a no-knock search warrant at the home of Dennis Tuttle, 59, and Rhogena Nicholas, 58. Police say the pair fired at officers as they entered the home. The raid left the pair dead and injured multiple officers — including Goines, who led the raid.

In the aftermath of the raid, an internal affairs investigation found that Goines and then-Officer Steven Bryant had concocted a story about a confidential informant who had bought heroin from the couple’s home to obtain a search warrant, according to prosecutors. The investigation led to several charges being filed against Goines, Bryant and other officers involved in the raid.

In addition to the murder charges, Goines is also charged with engaging in organized criminal activity, tampering with government records and theft by a public servant. In June 2021, Bryant became the first officer convicted in connection with the raid after pleading guilty to obstructing justice by falsifying documents.

This comes after murder indictments against Goines himself were dismissed earlier this year after his lawyers argued the charges did not provide “a meaningful opportunity to present a full defense.” About a week later, the district attorney’s office presented amended charges to a different grand jury, which decided to re-indict him in May.

Nine officers who were part of the drug unit were charged in 2021 with engaging in organized criminal activity in an alleged scheme to receive undeserved overtime pay from the city. But those charges were dismissed last week after the officers’ lawyers argued that the indictments were too broad, limiting their ability to prepare for trials.

Three of the nine officers — Hodgie Armstrong, Clemente Reyna and Thomas Wood — also face charges of group theft by a public servant and tampering with government records. The other officers whose charges were dismissed are Nadeem Ashraf, Felipe Gallegos, Cedell Lovings, Griff Maxwell, Frank Medina and Oscar Pardo.

Prosecutors plan to go back to a grand jury to again charge the officers with engaging in organized criminal activity, Stinebaker said.