Trial Starts for Former Houston Police Officer Charged with Murder after No-Knock Raid

AmmoLand ^ | September 14, 2024 | Dean Weingarten

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On September 9, 2024, the murder trial of Gerald Goines started in Houston, Texas, more than five years after the killings. The former Houston Police officer, undercover officer, and narcotics squad leader, was charged with the murders of Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nickolas.

On January 28, 2019, undercover Houston drug police raided the residence of Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas, both 58 years old. Both of them and their dog were killed. The raid was caused by a neighbor who lied about the Tuttles, and Officer Gerald Goines lied on an affidavit to obtain a no-knock warrant.  From Houstonpublicmedia.org:

During the hearing on Monday, Goines’ defense team acknowledged that the former officer had fabricated a story about a confidential informant purchasing heroin from the couple’s home, but claimed that the murder charges were excessive — “a case of overcharging,” according to attorney Nicole Deborde Hochglaube, who’s representing Goines.

After opening statements, prosecutors questioned Sarah Sanchez, who had lived on Harding Street during the incident and was close with both Tuttle and Nicholas.

Prosecutors questioned Sanchez about Patricia Garcia, a neighbor who made three 911 phone calls on the evening of Jan. 8, 2019, in which she told police that her daughter was doing heroin inside the couple’s home and that the couple were drug dealers and had guns inside their home.

Investigators eventually found that Garcia had no daughter and that her other claims were also false. She was the first person to be sentenced in connection with the deadly raid in June 2021.

“She was always fighting with Rhogena, always jealous of Rhogena,” Sanchez said during Monday’s hearing. “She was very hateful.”

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Absolutely