Day 2 of deliberations continue in former HPD officer Gerald Goines' murder trial

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Jury deliberations continue Wednesday in the murder trial of former Houston police narcotics officer Gerald Goines.

Goines is accused of lying 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.

On Tuesday, 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, so Wednesday will likely be their first full day. The jury will have to decide if the former HPD narcotics officer is responsible for the deaths of Tuttle and Nicholas.

Jurors are expected to deliberate until 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Eyewitness News will update this story once a verdict is reached.

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