During closing arguments in Gerald Goins’ murder trial Tuesday, Harris County Assistant District Attorney Keaton Fort urged jurors to hold Goins accountable for the deaths of Dennis Tuttle and Logana Nicholas, who were killed in a 2019 drug bust. Goins described a heroin purchase that never happened during the bust. “Just because you wear a badge doesn’t mean you’re above the law,” Fort said. Said.
Goins targeted Tuttle and Nicholas based on a 911 call from a neighbor, Patricia Garcia, who described them as armed and dangerous drug dealers who sold heroin to her daughter. Garcia said I didn’t have a daughterShe later admitted that she had made the whole thing up. Plead guilty She faces federal charges related to false reporting.
at Statement In a filing supporting a no-knock warrant that allowed Goins to enter the home of a middle-aged couple on the evening of Jan. 28, 2019, he alleged that a confidential informant had purchased heroin from a man at 7815 Harding Street, where Tuttle and Nicholas lived. Goins later confessed to faking the deal, but claimed he had personally purchased the heroin from the home the evening before the raid. Prosecutors said that was also not true, presenting evidence that Goins was 20 miles from home when he purchased the drugs and had not visited the location that day.
Goins planned to present two bags of heroin he had obtained elsewhere as evidence, but that plan was aborted when he and his associates broke down the door of the house and shot the owner’s dog. According to prosecutors, Tuttle, who was napping in the bedroom at the time, responded to the commotion and gunfire by grabbing a revolver and shooting the intruders, hitting four of them, including Goins. Police responded by firing a hail of bullets. At least 40 bulletsThey killed Turtle and Nicholas, who was unarmed but appeared to be trying to grab a gun from a wounded officer.
Because of the disaster, two bags of heroin were left in Goins’ car. “I think when you get past the tragedy and the disgust, you reach the irony,” Forchitt said. Said Juror. “I think it’s ironic that the only person in this case who had heroin was Gerald Goins. He had it in his car for a week.”
In his opening statement, Focht argued that Tuttle responded to the home invasion like a “normal person” and defended himself and his wife from the attackers, who he did not realize were police officers. “The evidence will show that Gerald Goins is legally responsible for every shooting that occurred in that home, whether it was a police officer or Dennis Tuttle,” he said.
The defense disputed that claim. Although the officers were not in uniform, Goins’ attorneys said the word police If there had been markings on their tactical gear, it would have been obvious who they were. The defense also argued that the officer verbally identified himself as a police officer, but the current audio record does not reflect that.
According to then-Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo, press conference On the night of the raid, police “announced they were Houston police officers and simultaneously broke down the front door.” In seconds, they killed the dog. It would not be surprising if Nicholas and Tuttle missed the announcement amid the chaos and confusion.
Goins’ attorney, who admitted to lying to obtain a search warrant, nonetheless argued that Nicholas and Tuttle were responsible for their own deaths. “If they had followed the police’s instructions,” attorney George Secrest said. Said If the jury were to try them on Tuesday, they would still be alive.
The two murder charges against the deceased are based on the following: statute It applies when someone “commits or attempts to commit a felony” and “in the course of committing or attempting to commit… commits or attempts to commit an act that is clearly dangerous to human life, resulting in the death of the individual.” The defense argued that such a charge was improper in this case because Goins’ underlying felony (making a fraudulent search warrant affidavit) did not result in the deaths of Tuttle and Nicholas. Tuttle and Nicholas caused their own deaths.
Prosecutors stressed that the police fired first, Emphasize Tuttle “fired the first shot at a human being” (as opposed to a dog). “These officers didn’t shoot anybody until they shot themselves,” he said. “Nobody shot Dennis Tuttle until he started putting bullets in people’s faces and necks.”
Goins’ attorneys also repeatedly cited the amount of marijuana and cocaine found in the home, suggesting that Tuttle and Nicholas were eventually involved in drugs. Forchte rejected the suggestion that the couple’s drug use was relevant to Goins’ defense. “The time to investigate those two people is before they were murdered, not now,” he said.
In addition to the murder charge, which carries a sentence of five years to life in prison each, Goines also faces the following charges: tampering with government recordsIt is a felony punishable by two to ten years in prison. The case is now in the hands of a jury. The deliberations began Tuesday afternoon.
