PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "An independent forensic examination of the home contradicted many of the claims made by officers in their reports. The police chief finally distanced himself from the officers' actions, but only after enough information had come to light to show everything about the raid was a lie. Investigations have been opened on the PD and the officers involved. The two officers who led the raid are having their past investigations examined by the PD and the DA's office says this could affect as many as 14,000 cases. Not that the Houston PD is exactly being cooperative. The DA's office has had to threaten legal action to get the department to turn over paperwork linked to Officer Gerald Goines and Officer Steven Bryant. These officers are no longer facing multiple investigations into the drug task force work. They're now facing criminal charges as well."
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STORY: "Houston Police Officer Who Led Botched Raid That Killed Two People Now Facing Felony Murder Charges," by reporter Tim Cushing, published by Techdirt, on Sept 12, 2019. (From this feisty journalist's "some-of-the-best-criminals-are-cops" department.
GIST: "The increasingly-awful story of the Houston Police Department's botched drug raid continues to develop. Earlier this year, the Houston PD raided the house of Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas. By the time the bullets stopped flying, the couple of 21 years was dead. The raid was predicated on a tip from a confidential informant who said he saw lots of heroin and some guns in the residence while performing a controlled buy. No heroin was found. The gun described by the informant was never found. What was found was personal use amounts of marijuana and cocaine, neither of which were mentioned by the informant. The informant never existed. The heroin supposedly purchased from the residence actually came from the console of an officer's police car. The affidavit obtained by Officer Gerald Goines was apparently filled with lies about a controlled drug buy that never happened and statements from an informant who had never visited the Tuttle residence. The actual tip the officers acted on was one phoned in by Rhogena Nicholas' mother, who complained about the couple using drugs in their house. Goines wasn't the only liar. Other officers on the scene lied as well. The narrative officers presented was one of being greeted by weapon-wielding residents during the no-knock raid. An independent forensic examination of the home contradicted many of the claims made by officers in their reports. The police chief finally distanced himself from the officers' actions, but only after enough information had come to light to show everything about the raid was a lie. Investigations have been opened on the PD and the officers involved. The two officers who led the raid are having their past investigations examined by the PD and the DA's office says this could affect as many as 14,000 cases. Not that the Houston PD is exactly being cooperative. The DA's office has had to threaten legal action to get the department to turn over paperwork linked to Officer Gerald Goines and Officer Steven Bryant. These officers are no longer facing multiple investigations into the drug task force work. They're now facing criminal charges as well.
The entire story can be read at:
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20190905/15231542933/houston-police-officer-who-led-botched-raid-that-killed-two-people-now-facing-felony-murder-charges.shtml
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Read The Techdirt story on the independent investigation which put the lie to the police accounts, at the link below. (Also by Reporter Tim Cushing);
PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Everything about the botched no-knock raid by the Houston Police Department just keeps getting worse. Here's how everything has gone down so far:
Another investigation has been opened. An independent forensic review -- headed by a former NCIS supervisor -- of the crime scene has been conducted and the results are jaw-dropping. Not only do they indicate the officers' narrative of the raid is highly-dubious, it shows the Houston PD's forensic team is possibly no better at its job than the officers behind the botched raid.
As Radley Balko points out, this really doesn't look good for the Houston PD Forensics unit. It suggests two things -- neither of them positive.
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20190516/13404142226/independent-forensic-investigation-undermines-houston-cops-narrative-about-fatal-drug-raid.shtml
GIST: "The increasingly-awful story of the Houston Police Department's botched drug raid continues to develop. Earlier this year, the Houston PD raided the house of Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas. By the time the bullets stopped flying, the couple of 21 years was dead. The raid was predicated on a tip from a confidential informant who said he saw lots of heroin and some guns in the residence while performing a controlled buy. No heroin was found. The gun described by the informant was never found. What was found was personal use amounts of marijuana and cocaine, neither of which were mentioned by the informant. The informant never existed. The heroin supposedly purchased from the residence actually came from the console of an officer's police car. The affidavit obtained by Officer Gerald Goines was apparently filled with lies about a controlled drug buy that never happened and statements from an informant who had never visited the Tuttle residence. The actual tip the officers acted on was one phoned in by Rhogena Nicholas' mother, who complained about the couple using drugs in their house. Goines wasn't the only liar. Other officers on the scene lied as well. The narrative officers presented was one of being greeted by weapon-wielding residents during the no-knock raid. An independent forensic examination of the home contradicted many of the claims made by officers in their reports. The police chief finally distanced himself from the officers' actions, but only after enough information had come to light to show everything about the raid was a lie. Investigations have been opened on the PD and the officers involved. The two officers who led the raid are having their past investigations examined by the PD and the DA's office says this could affect as many as 14,000 cases. Not that the Houston PD is exactly being cooperative. The DA's office has had to threaten legal action to get the department to turn over paperwork linked to Officer Gerald Goines and Officer Steven Bryant. These officers are no longer facing multiple investigations into the drug task force work. They're now facing criminal charges as well.
Gerald Goines, the ex-Houston police officer who led the controversial no-knock raid on Harding Street, has been charged with two counts of felony murder, as KHOU 11 Investigates reporter Jeremy Rogalski first reported.His partner in cop crime isn't facing murder charges, but is on just as short a leash as Goines.
His attorney, Nicole DeBorde, said Goines was surprised by the charges.
Goines surrendered Friday afternoon and his bond was set at $150,000 on each charge. Goines made bond Friday evening.
He is required to wear a GPS monitor and won't be allowed to have weapons or leave Harris County.
Former Officer Steven Bryant, who was involved with the Harding Street warrant, is charged with second-degree tampering with a government document. His bond was set at $50,000. He will also wear a GPS monitor and can't leave Harris or Fort Bend counties.Meanwhile, the HPD chief continues to reassure himself this isn't the tip of a corroded iceberg, but rather just an anomaly he can go back to ignoring when the press finds something else to occupy itself with.
However, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo believes it's not a department wide problem.Maybe no cop on the force is as awful as these two. But cops don't just go straight from the academy to falsifying affidavits and engaging in deadly raids over drugs that came from a cop car, rather than a crime scene. They start small. And if no one stops them, it eventually grows to something that can't be contained. Chief Acevedo needs to dig a little deeper. If he's not seeing anything, it's not because it's not there. It's because he's not really looking for it.
"We've been looking at a lot of cases and we have yet to see it again, any evidence of any systemic issues," Acevedo said.
The entire story can be read at:
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20190905/15231542933/houston-police-officer-who-led-botched-raid-that-killed-two-people-now-facing-felony-murder-charges.shtml
----------------------------------------------------------
Read The Techdirt story on the independent investigation which put the lie to the police accounts, at the link below. (Also by Reporter Tim Cushing);
PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Everything about the botched no-knock raid by the Houston Police Department just keeps getting worse. Here's how everything has gone down so far:
- The HPD said the raid was predicated on a tip that drugs were being sold in the house. In actuality, the "tip" was one of the now-dead resident's mother calling the police to tell them her daughter was using drugs.
- A drug buy was set up using an informant. The informant claimed he had purchased heroin from the house, seen plenty of heroin packaged for sale, and several guns. No heroin was found during the raid and the heroin sent out for testing came from the console of an officer's vehicle.
- The officers claimed one of the residents, 59-year-old Dennis Tuttle, opened fire on them, necessitating the use of force that left Tuttle and his wife of 20 years dead. The gun supposedly fired at officers was not included in the search warrant inventory.
- The officers involved in the raid are now under investigation by the FBI and the DA's office. This has led to the dismissal of criminal cases the two officers were involved in.
Another investigation has been opened. An independent forensic review -- headed by a former NCIS supervisor -- of the crime scene has been conducted and the results are jaw-dropping. Not only do they indicate the officers' narrative of the raid is highly-dubious, it shows the Houston PD's forensic team is possibly no better at its job than the officers behind the botched raid.
Hired by the relatives of Rhogena Nicholas and Dennis Tuttle, the new forensics team found no signs the pair fired shots at police — and plenty of signs that previous investigators overlooked dozens of pieces of potential evidence in what one expert called a “sloppy” investigation.The police claimed they started firing when the couple's dog charged at them as they came through the door. But the investigation shows the dog was killed in the dining room, more than 15 feet from the front door. The investigators also couldn't find anything confirming the officers' claims that Tuttle started firing at them as they came through the door. It also appears some of the officers were firing into the house before entering it -- another contradiction of the official narrative.
“It doesn’t appear that they took the basic steps to confirm and collect the physical evidence to know whether police were telling the truth,” said attorney Mike Doyle, who is representing the Nicholas family. “That’s the whole point of forensic scene documentation. That’s the basic check on people just making stuff up.”
Some of the bullet holes outside the house appeared at least a foot from the door, a fact that Doyle flagged as troubling.It's not just evidence that appears to contradict the official story. The independent investigators also came across a ton of evidence that was never gathered by Houston PD investigators. Left behind were items tagged as evidence, the drugs the HPD drug unit was so hot and bothered about, and a bunch of bullets and casings that could help reconstruct what actually happened inside the house during the raid.
“You can’t see into the house from there,” he said, “you’re firing into the house through a wall.”
As Radley Balko points out, this really doesn't look good for the Houston PD Forensics unit. It suggests two things -- neither of them positive.
The most damning explanation is that the investigators were covering for the cops. A slightly less damning, but still pretty bad, explanation is that the investigators simply took the cops’ word about what happened and thus saw no need to carefully inspect the crime scene. The least damning explanation is that the cops got no special treatment at all. But that would mean that this is the way crime-scene investigators handle all homicide investigations. You know you’ve been roped into a scandal when the most flattering explanation for your behavior is that you aren’t corrupt, you’re merely incompetent.This is bad news for the Houston PD and everyone in their jurisdiction. This case has had zero positive developments since it first started making national headlines. A moratorium on no-knock raids might reduce the number of people killed by police officers, but it isn't going to fix the underlying issues that lead to the deadly raid -- and its horrendous aftermath.
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20190516/13404142226/independent-forensic-investigation-undermines-houston-cops-narrative-about-fatal-drug-raid.shtml
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
