George Floyd's 2004 drug arrest by disgraced HPD officer denied pardon, lawyer tells ABC13
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- George Floyd's recorded criminal past, including a drug arrest involving a Houston police officer who left the department in disgrace, remains intact for the foreseeable future.
ABC13 learned on Thursday that the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole declined to remove the one-time Houstonian's 2004 arrest tied to Gerald Goines, the central figure in the botched Harding Street raid in 2019, from his record.
COMPLETE COVERAGE: HPD Harding Raid
Allison Mathis, a Harris County public defender who applied for Floyd's pardon in April 2021, told Eyewitness News that she received a letter from the board denying his pardon.
SEE ALSO: George Floyd drug arrest by former HPD officer Gerald Goines being petitioned for pardon
Goines faces a murder charge over a deadly botched narcotics raid in 2019 at a home that killed Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas. As an investigation followed into the raid, prosecutors later went on to add that multiple people, including Floyd, may have been convicted based on the false evidence presented by Goines.
SEE MORE: George Floyd's 2004 arrest by former HPD officer should be pardoned, panel concludes
Most of the cases involve the delivery of a controlled substance and ranged from a few months in the Harris County Jail to four years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The time evaluated by the DA's post-conviction division is from 2008 to 2019.
In a June 2020 interview with the Wall Street Journal, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg concluded that Goines likely lied when he arrested Floyd on a minor drug offense, for which Floyd served time in state jail.
In October 2021, the same panel that just denied Floyd's application unanimously recommended the pardon.
While it seemed Floyd's family was poised to receive their loved one's clemency, it never came to be, at least sooner. A couple of months later, in December 2021, Floyd's name was not among the eight that Gov. Greg Abbott signed off on.
SEE MORE: George Floyd not pardoned by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott
"The Board of Pardons and Paroles has withdrawn 25 clemency recommendations that contained procedural errors and lack of compliance with Board rules," Renae Eze, Abbott's press secretary, said at that time. "Among the recommendations withdrawn was one concerning George Floyd. The Board will review and resolve procedural errors and issues related to any pending applications in compliance with their rules. As a result of the Board's withdrawal of the recommendation concerning George Floyd, Governor Abbott did not have the opportunity to consider it. Governor Abbott will review all recommendations that the Board submits for consideration."
Mathis said she was offered little answers over the denial, which she learned in a board email was unanimously decided among the panel's seven members.
"This was a chance for Texas to do a small, good thing: to take an apolitical stance that no matter who a person is, their rights need to be respected and an accurate record of their life is important," Mathis told ABC13. "Last year, the board unanimously recommended that Mr. Floyd be granted a pardon, acknowledging that what happened to him was wrong. I have given no other facts or evidence for the board to consider and it is unclear to me what happened to completely reverse their decision."
So what happens next?
Floyd's application can be entered again in two years. Mathis did not immediately say if that would be happening.
View the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole's letter below. If viewing in mobile, find the letter here.
SEE ALSO: What's being done for policing reform and George Floyd's legacy two years after his death?
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