Ex-Houston Police Officer Gets 60 Years in Prison in Drug Raid Killings

A former Houston police officer who lied to obtain a warrant for a drug raid that led to the shooting deaths of two people was sentenced on Tuesday to 60 years in prison for felony murder in a case that unveiled corruption in the city’s Police Department and drew scrutiny from federal officials.

The jury began deliberating on Monday and reached a verdict about midday on Tuesday. They also ordered that the former officer, Gerald Goines, 61, pay a $10,000 fine.

Prosecutors had asked the jury to sentence Mr. Goines to life in prison, the maximum possible term, while his lawyers had recommended a five-year sentence, the minimum possible, The Houston Chronicle reported.

Jurors were sent home in the middle of closing arguments on Thursday after Mr. Goines suffered a medical emergency in the courtroom and was taken to a hospital. Mr. Goines returned to court on Monday. It was unclear what he was treated for at the hospital.

On Sept. 25, the jury found Mr. Goines guilty of two counts of felony murder in the deaths of Dennis Tuttle, 59, and his wife, Rhogena Nicholas, 58, on Jan. 28, 2019.

The couple, along with their dog, were fatally shot while police officers executed a no-knock warrant, which allowed them to enter the couple’s home without any notice. Mr. Goines later admitted that he had given false information that heroin was being dealt out of the home to obtain the warrant, according to court documents.

The sentencing on Tuesday was the latest development in a case that spurred the F.B.I. to open a civil rights investigation into the drug raid and prompted the Harris County District Attorney’s Office to review hundreds of cases handled by Mr. Goines during his career.

The district attorney’s office and a lawyer for Mr. Goines did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.

Hai Bui, the founder of We The People Organize, a group that seeks to eliminate no-knock warrants, said in an interview on Sept. 26 that his organization hoped that Mr. Goines would be sentenced to a life in prison to send a message.

“No-knock warrants are dangerous to officers and innocent civilians,” Mr. Bui said, during a break from court proceedings.

Mr. Bui, who had been sitting with the family of Mr. Tuttle and Ms. Nicholas during the hearing, said that the mood had shifted in the courtroom after the jury’s decision to convict.

“The courtroom had a big air of relief,” he said Thursday.

Nicole DeBorde, a lawyer for Mr. Goines, told jurors during closing arguments that they had the option to “end this madness” by finding Mr. Goines not guilty.

Keaton Forcht, a Harris County assistant district attorney, said during closing arguments that “no one is above the law.”

“Just because you have a badge, doesn’t mean you’re above the law,” Mr. Forcht said.

Mr. Goines had sought a “no-knock” warrant in January 2019 to search the couple’s home in Houston. To obtain the warrant, Mr. Goines said that a confidential informant had given him heroin that had been purchased at the home, according to court documents.

A team of at least four police officers burst into the couple’s home and shot Ms. Nicholas several times, court documents state. Mr. Tuttle returned fire, and he was also shot several times. The couple were pronounced dead at the scene.

Four officers, including Mr. Goines, were injured in the shootout. Mr. Goines later admitted that he had given false information to obtain the warrant, and that there was no confidential informant, according to court documents.

Mr. Goines retired from the Houston Police Department in 2019 after the fatal shooting. He had worked for the Police Department for about 34 years, the majority of which he had spent investigating narcotics.

The botched drug raid uncovered issues of corruption within the Houston Police Department, prompting the Police Department to investigate cases that Mr. Goines had worked on.

An audit released by the Houston Police Department in 2019 found extensive issues with cases that Mr. Goines had worked on, including instances in which he had failed to properly tag drugs and had discrepancies with expenses.

The discovery of Mr. Goines’s miscount later led to the exonerations of 27 people who had faced convictions on drug charges related to cases that he had worked on, according to the National Registry of Exonerations. Dozens of pending cases that Mr. Goines had worked on were also dismissed after a review by the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, based on his misconduct.

Mr. Goines also faces federal charges related to the botched 2019 drug raid. Those include two counts of violating constitutional rights, obstructing justice by falsifying records, and three counts of obstructing an official proceeding. He pleaded not guilty to the charges in November 2019.

Another former Houston police officer, Steven Bryant, also faces a charge of obstructing justice by falsifying records in the federal case. Mr. Bryant pleaded guilty to falsifying records in 2021 as part of a plea agreement. His sentencing is scheduled for January, according to court records.

The Tuttle family has also filed a lawsuit in federal court against the city of Houston, Mr. Goines and other officers involved in the 2019 raid. It is pending.