HOUSTON, Texas – It’s been six years since experts say a botched raid took the lives of a Houston couple and revealed systemic corruption within the Houston Police Department’s narcotics unit.
The Harding Street Raid, which is referred to by many, occurred on Jan. 28, 2019, when Houston police officers raided a house on Harding Street in the Pecan Park neighborhood in what was believed to be a part of a drug investigation.
On Monday, Gerald Goines, the officer accused of murder for his role in the Harding Street Raid, murder trial began. Opening statements were made and three witnesses took the stand.
Goines pleaded not guilty to two felony murder counts for the January 2019 deaths of a married couple, Dennis Tuttle, 59, and Rhogena Nicholas, 58, and their family dog.
KPRC 2 Investigates team Reporter Mario Diaz, Senior Investigates Producer Jason Nguyen, Senior Special Projects Producer Andrea Slaydon, and Digital Content Specialist Ninfa Saavedra are live at the trial dishing out the latest updates for ‘The Bench: Gerald Goines.
5:23 p.m. - The court adjourned and will resume on Tuesday at 10 a.m.
4:04 p.m. - Houston Police Officer Nicole Blankenship-Reeves takes the stand
Officer Blankenship-Reeves, who has been with HPD for 12 years handling community issues and illegal activities, was called to the stand at 4:04 p.m. She described responding to a call on January 8, 2019, about a suspicious person with a weapon at the Tuttle and Nicholas home on Harding Street, arriving with Officer Morales. Blankenship-Reeves said she and Morales were looking for a complainant but when they didn’t find one, they left the scene and documented the call details.
Blankenship-Reeves said she passed this information to HPD Lt. Todd in narcotics for further investigation.
Blankenship-Reeves said she had not been dispatched to Harding Street before Jan. 8 and was next involved on Jan. 28, assisting with a warrant with Squad 15, which is the narcotics squad Goines worked on.
At the tactical briefing led by Goines, Blankenship-Reeves said she provided information about observing a white man with a dog at the Tuttle and Nicholas home.
On the day of the raid, Blankenship-Reeves said she was assigned to block traffic in a marked vehicle.
Blankenship-Reeves said she entered the Harding Street home after the deadly raid to identify Nicholas. When prosecutors showed an image of the scene on Jan 18, Blankenship-Reeves identified Dennis Tuttle’s body at the front door and Nicholas’s body on the couch.
4:03 p.m. - Officer Morales excused from the witness stand
3:50 p.m. - Court back in session. Prosecutors re-direct officer Morales
During the re-cross, Morales said although blackboards weren’t used, tactical meetings could still be conducted and more information about the raid could have been provided.
Morales said he believed the search warrant was based on truthful information and noted that Goines reported a possibly armed man in the Harding Street home.
Photos presented by prosecutors showed officers in black shirts, camo vests, and helmets.
3:40 - Court in recess
2:43 p.m. - Prosecutors pass the witness
Morales is questioned by defense attorney George “Mac” Secrest.
After responding to the police call on Jan. 8, Morales said he did not know Gerald Goines personally before the deadly raid but had served warrants with Goines’ team previously. Morales said he participated in over a dozen warrant operations before the Harding Street incident.
Morales said he was asked to join the warrant execution on Harding Street but did not know the location until the briefing. During the briefing, Morales said Goines attempted to use a malfunctioning blackboard. Morales agreed with attorney Secrest that officers outside the lead role do not typically read affidavits and that Goines mentioned someone in the home might be armed.
Morales acknowledged that officers were aware guns could be present in the house. During the briefing, Morales said there were questions about not using a flashbang, a device used to create a loud noise and bright flash to disorient suspects during entry. Morales mentioned that he had been informed about a large pit bull in the home by another officer and told Goines.
Secrest showed photos of the narcotic officers wearing tactical gear and helmets with their faces covered, due to being undercover officers.
Morales said he only provided information about the dog and was assigned to the rear perimeter team. He noted that the narcotics van was parked just before the driveway, which is not against HPD’s practices.
Morales said he did not enter the house and did not know what transpired inside.
Morales said by the time he arrived at the scene, the narcotics team was already out of their van and approaching the door. He admitted that his bodycam footage did not pick up all of the audio from the scene, noting that the first two minutes were gone from the bodycam video.
In his report, Morales noted hearing “police” and then a loud noise, but when asked by prosecutors moments before, he said he did not recall if officers announced “warrant” or “police” before entering. Secrest later showed evidence that Morales also told Internal Affairs that he heard “police” and “search warrant” before hearing gunshots.
1:40 p.m. - Second witness called to the stand
Houston Police Officer Richard Morales is called to the stand. Officer Morales, who has served on the Houston police force for 26 years, was involved in a raid on Harding Street on January 28, 2019. Morales said he initially responded to a 911 call from Patricia Garcia, who reported drug activity at her home and wanted her daughter removed from the house. Upon arriving, Morales observed that the house was dark, the blinds were up, and he did not see any signs of drug use or weapons. He was wearing a bodycam and his bodycam video caught a conversation he had with Garcia, informing her that he could not enter the home to remove her daughter. Morales said after Jan. 8 and before Jan. 28, he had no further involvement with the Harding Street address until the night of the raid.
During the raid, Morales said he was part of the perimeter team, located outside the home while the narcotics squad executed the warrant. Morales said the lead investigator for the case was Gerald Goines, who instructed officers to handle aggressive dogs, if necessary.
Morales said he followed the narcotics team to the scene in a marked HPD vehicle, while the narcotics team used an unmarked white van. He did not recall if any announcements were made before entering the home.
Audio from Morales’ bodycam, played in court, indicated that Morales did not enter the house during the raid, and he remained on the scene for about four hours, during which he saw the then police chief Art Acevedo.
1:20 p.m. - Court resumes
Goines’ attorneys briefly ask Sanchez about knowing everything that took place inside Nicholas’s and Tuttles’ home, to which she answered she did not.
12:20 p.m. - Court in recess
11:00 a.m. - First witness called to stand
Sarah Sanchez, the first witness called by the state, testified that she lived three houses down from Nicholas and Tuttle. She described them as private people who were dog lovers and slight hoarders, with a home filled with memorabilia. Sanchez noted that the couple’s front door was not secured and their house was dark, with sheets on the windows to block heat. Sanchez said the couple was on a fixed income and struggled financially, often turning their water heater on and off due to cost. She said they lived modestly, going out to restaurants only on special occasions.
Sanchez described Nicholas as a dog lover who took care of stray and mistreated dogs, including those from a neighbor, Patricia Garcia, who lived across the street. Sanchez said Garcia was not kind to dogs and frequently had issues with Nicholas.
Sanchez told the court that she had spoken to Nicholas around 4:32 p.m. on the day of the deadly raid. She said Nicholas was excited about washing her own car, which was a big deal for her, according to Sanchez.
While relaxing in her living room, Sanchez said she heard gunshots and saw police outside Nicholas’s home. She said she tried to call Nicholas who warned her to stay inside. She said she initially thought the officers were pursuing someone unrelated to Nicholas and Tuttle but realized something was wrong when Nicholas and Tuttle didn’t answer their phones.
The prosecutors played several videos Sanchez recorded after the deadly shooting.
10:00 a.m. - Defense begins opening statements
Nicole Deborde, Goines’s attorney, argued that her client is not responsible for the deaths of Tuttle and his wife, Nicholas, saying that although Goines’s affidavit contained false information, this trial is a result of overcharging. Deborde said that the state has to prove that Goines directly caused the murders of Tuttle of Nicholas.
Deborde recounted the events of the deadly raid, highlighting that Goines never made it inside the house and was shot in the face while attempting to rescue a colleague. She criticized the police’s actions, noting that 18 officers in marked patrol units approached the home and that Dennis Tuttle fired at them with precision, targeting them as they entered.
Deborde said that the case began with three 911 calls from a drug-using neighbor, Pat Garcia, who claimed her daughter was being held hostage and using heroin inside the house. Deborde mentioned Garcia’s known issues with Nicholas and suggested Garcia provided accurate information previously about drugs and guns in the home.
She added that the no-knock warrant was justified due to the presence of weapons inside of the home, noting that Tuttle owned a rifle. Deborde said that the Texas Ranger’s investigation supports that the officers who went inside the Harding Street home were following protocols and that Tuttle, in his attempt to kill four officers, was the primary cause of the violence. Nicholas, she claims, did not comply with police commands and was attempting to take an officer’s gun, leading to her being shot.
Deborde said Tuttle was intentionally targeting officers in vulnerable spots while shooting at them, intentionally missing their police vests. She added that the choices made by Tuttle and Nicholas led to their deaths, arguing that Goines was not the cause.
9:40 a.m. - Opening statements begin
Opening statements in the Gerald Goines murder trial began Monday morning. Keaton Forcht, the attorney with the state, started opening statements, which lasted about 20 to 30 minutes. In his opening remarks, he claimed false allegations led to a tragic Harding Street raid. Forcht said that Patricia Garcia’s unfounded claims that her daughter was at the home doing drugs prompted the initial investigation into the couple. On January 8, Forcht said Houston Police Department officers responded to a false tip by Garcia about drugs at the Harding Street address, but said the officers found nothing and left. However, narcotics officer Gerald Goines, who had no proper investigation or evidence, applied for a no-knock search warrant on Jan. 28, falsely swearing in front of a judge that he had investigated the home on Jan. 27 and that his confidential informant had purchased drugs from Nicholas and Tuttle.
Forcht said Goines led the raid with officers without prior knowledge of the home’s layout, leading to a dangerous situation. During the raid, Forcht said officers shot and killed the family’s dog, and in response, Dennis Tuttle fired shots, resulting in his own death and the death of Rhogena Nicholas. Four officers were also injured.
Forcht said after the raid, investigations revealed significant issues: Goines fabricated details about a confidential informant and lied about purchasing heroin, which was later discovered to have been retrieved from his own car. Goines had not adequately prepared or documented the raid, and it was discovered that the couple had financial difficulties and used drugs, but there was no evidence of drug dealing. The raid was conducted at the end of Goines’ shift to secure overtime pay.
8:00 a.m. - Order of business
The judge and attorneys on both sides discuss the order of business.