U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)- In the ongoing investigation of the murder of an innocent couple during a Houston no-knock raid, two police officers have been indicted by a Harris County Grand Jury.
On 28 January, 2019, a no-knock raid was executed at 7815 Harding Street, the residence of a longtime married couple of modest means, Dennis Tuttle and his wife of twenty years, Rhogena Nicholas. Neither of the couple had any significant police record.
After the police broke down the door and shot the family dog, Dennis Tuttle fired back in defense. It was claimed he wounded four police officers with a .357 magnum revolver; that claim is uncertain because of how the crime scene evidence was collected.
Many police claims about the raid were disputed early. Investigations by Harris County, the Houston P.D., the FBI and a private forensics firm have been ongoing.
The Harris County District Attorney, Kim Ogg, announced felony charges and arrests of retired officers Gerald Goines and Steven Bryant of the Houston Police Department in August, 2019. The two officers were described as partners. Both retired two months after the Harding Street Raid, while the investigations were ongoing.
The Harris County DA took the unusual step of arresting the accused before a grand jury investigation.
On 15 January, 2020, the Harris County Grand Jury returned indictments for former officers Gerald Goines and Steven Bryant. Goines for felony murder and tampering with documents, Bryant for tampering with documents.
Former Sgt Goines was wounded in the raid, and could not speak to investigators. He gave written responses in the hospital. From his hospital bed, he claimed, at different times, five different confidential informants (CI) had made the drug buys claimed in the no-knock warrant. All five CI told investigators they had not purchased drugs at the house. Then Sgt Goines said he had purchased the drugs himself.
The case for the warrant and the raid unraveled.
The federal investigation resulted in warrants on federal charges of deprivation of rights under color of law and of obstruction of justice, of Goines, and of Bryan for falsification of records. In addition, a neighbor, Patricia Ann Garcia, was arrested and charged for false 911 calls.
KHOU.com reported that Patricia Ann Garcia had a lengthy criminal record of misdemeanors and a felony theft. From khou.com:
She was also convicted of felony theft in 1995. The rest of her long rap sheet is misdemeanors — five thefts, an assault of a family member in 2013, four driving while license suspended, with the last one in 2016 and one possession of marijuana.
The Harris County DA, Kim Ogg, said this grand jury will be dismissed near the end of the January, 2020. The investigation will continue in two more phases, each with a grand jury empaneled for about three months. The next phase should start early in February.
The second phase will concern itself with a review of additional officers and the potential of additional charges being brought.
The third phase, which should commence about the end of May, will be concerned with the shooting at Harding Street. From the press conference, DA Ogg:
“Phase three will be an investigation into the shooting itself and the other members of the squad who were in “the stack”; when the home was entered, the door was breached, and the family killed.”
The third phase of the investigation may answer questions about who fired what firearms, at what time, and at what targets.
Harris County has nearly two dozen investigators working on the case, nearly full time. Harris County hired ten additional investigators for this purpose.
DA Ogg said her office is working hard to investigate all leads to any corruption that is involved with this case, with narcotics squad 15 and its eleven members, or with any other case which is brought to them involving police corruption.
About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
Yup, I remember this one. “Cops” broke open the door, murdered the dog. Husband sees someone in his house who is not supposed to be there and see’s his dog shot and murdered. Husband engages the threat and wounds him. Attacker flops onto the couch. Wife tries to remove the threats shotgun and gets murdered by gunfire from OUTSIDE an window.. Other attackers enter and kill the husband. About a half hour later there are two or three shots from inside the house. E M S has not arrived yet when this happened. Husband and wife are murdered along with… Read more »
So the LEOs get carve outs from gun control as they are paragons of virtue? It appears that is not the case. And there are claims that red flag laws can make everyone safer and they won’t be abused. Yeah, and the moon is made of cheese.
Folks, this is ANOTHER wake up call. Does anyone not think this is also the ultimate goal of Red Flag laws? Kim Ogg is a bleeding Democrat looking at two murdered white people, a black LEO, and an Hispanic who triggered the illegal raid. Ogg is desperately looking for a way to be a hero to her electorate, who recently re elected a criminal black mayor and an Hispanic woman as County Judge (that’s the county equivalent of a mayor) who had never had a job and whose entire life had been going to school and colleges at taxpayer expense.… Read more »
Seems like all those involved with initiating and approving the “red flag” laws and no-knock raids should be held responsible along with the officers!! My home is my castle and it will be defended, I will not take the time to try to authenticate a uniform from a costume in a home invasion!!!
Hmmm….Black officers….White dead people. How would this story be spun if it were the other way around?
Interesting. Here in Montana the LEOs have children that chase down other teens, murder them, and then get their daddies to pin the blame on Barry Beach. And when found out decades later, and the case gets moved to Lewistown for retrial, the chief crook in charge gets into a bar fight in Lewistown, throws some random stranger out of a plate glass window, and doesn’t even get arrested, let alone made to pay for the window he broke (not to mention the out of stater that he put in the hospital. No harm done, just letting off a little… Read more »
Ten more enforcers to investigate enforcers, plus the money to support them. The DA has turned this murder into a power increasing money making project. I do not see the public service provided by this public servant. It is the office of the DA that prosecutes cases on false evidence provided by enforcers. The two enforcers here indicted can not be only enforcers providing such evidence. Blame is on the public servants who hire and direct their public enforcers. Citizens ought be concerned more of being evaded by government enforcers than by private criminals. Think of which group with authority… Read more »
“No Knock,” “Red Flag,” my joint and there will be ‘knockback!’ I have cameras and alarms that can not be ‘shut down,’ which says ‘I’m waiting for you.’
Mayor Turner of Houston has a solution. The city no longer provides ammunition for police officers to practice at the range. If they want to practice, they have to buy their own ammo. I guess he figures maybe they’ll miss and save Houston from future lawsuits like what must be coming from this illegal raid. Meanwhile the honest officers pay the price.
Awww, come on, guys….these cops were showing the FBI and BATF that they could be good anti-Constitutional assassins, too. It was like a job interview. Go read about all the mass murders during all the ‘no-knock’ raids the FBI and BATF did during the rapist Bill Clinton administration. Neal Knox kept everyone informed of their crimes. Their favorite method was a no-knock, then hose down everyone in the home with machine gun bullets. It was NOT carried in the media. If they did not kill the folks indoors, they would arrest them and hog-tie them, men, women & children, and… Read more »