Former HPD officer Gerald Goines, now a convicted murderer, enters penalty phase next

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A jury found former HPD officer Gerald Goines guilty of felony murder for his role in the 2019 Harding Street raid that killed a couple.

On Wednesday, jurors were convinced Goines lied to obtain a no-knock warrant, leading to the botched drug raid at 7815 Harding Street that ended with the deaths of Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas and four officers injured in 2019.

During the trial, defense attorneys admitted that Goines did lie but said he did not kill the couple. They focused on what happened when officers arrived, telling the jury Tuttle was the first to fire on officers, which led to the deadly return fire.

Defense attorney Mac Secrest said during closing arguments that public pressure forced the Harris County District Attorney's Office to charge the former officer with felony murder in the first place.

"This case is overcharged. It should never have been charged with felony murder," Secrest said while his fingers pointed at prosecutors. "It got amped up to it because of the politics in their office, because of the media outcry, the pressure."

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Prosecutors, however, focused on the fact that it was Goines' lies that started it all, saying had he not lied to obtain that warrant, both Tuttle and Nicholas would still be alive.

"Everything that happened in that house, everything, flowed directly from that warrant - is a direct consequence," Keaton Forcht, one of the prosecutors, said. "But for Gerald Goines, those two individuals are now dead."

The jury heard lengthy closing arguments on Tuesday and only had about three hours to deliberate. Jurors didn't need the full day of deliberating on Wednesday to come to a verdict.

The judge sent jurors home after the verdict but ordered them to return at 9:45 a.m. on Thursday to start the penalty phase.

Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg, who became the prosecutional face of the case, withheld comment about the verdict, electing to wait until after a punishment comes down.

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