Texas Ranger Jeff Wolf had testified on Tuesday that it took 18 seconds from the moment narcotics officers pulled up to the home of Rhogena Nicholas and Dennis Tuttle to the point the first shots were fired.
On Wednesday, he further broke down the details under cross-examination by defense attorney Mac Secrest.
Wolf testified the first shot after the raid began was by Officer Cedell Lovings, who shot the family dog, Star, in the living room area of the small home.
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Officer Frank Medina fired next, also shooting Star, but the next shot came from Tuttle.
Wolf said he believes the first shot was fired by Dennis Tuttle toward Medina and hit the officer in the shoulder.
Attorney Murray Newman, who has watched much of the trial in person, says that was a key point for the defense.
"What you're seeing with the defense on this is that Mac Secrest did a really good job in identifying that the first human to shoot at another human was Dennis Tuttle shooting at the police, and that's going to be a huge factor in this," Newman said. "They're going to say, 'Yes, we had to neutralize the dog, but we were not shooting at Miss Nicholas or Mr. Tuttle. They're the ones shooting at us,' and at that point, HPD had no choice but to shoot in kind to protect the lives of other officers."
Prosecutors have maintained from the beginning that Nicholas and Tuttle would still be alive if Goines didn't lie to get the no-knock warrant, setting off the deadly string of events.
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However, Murray says the fact that Wednesday's testimony did not focus on Goines' actions leading to the raid is key.
"There's been a lot of testimony about what happened inside that house. In my opinion, the more testimony there is about what happened inside that house, the better it is for the defense," Newman said.
Newman says it's important to note that the officers who fired their weapons are not on trial here, but focusing on those officers' actions takes time and attention away from what Goines is accused of to the jury.
The day ended with the assistant medical examiner, Dr. Pramod Gumpeni, testifying to autopsy photos of Nicholas and Tuttle. He testified that both died from gunshot wounds caused by police officers shooting at them.
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