PUBLISHER'S NOTE: This is only the second time in a history of more than 8,000 posts over the past 12 years that I have published a post which does not in some way deal with flawed pathologists, flawed pathology or flawed science in the criminal justice system. It deals with a terribly flawed police officer, whose terrible flaws likely led to the death of two innocent people (and their dog) - and the wrongful convictions and imprisonment of - thus far - 164 people who, it seems, were all members of minority groups. It is so big a story - and such an earthquake under Texas's criminal justice system - that it simply cannot be ignored. Another candidate for this blog's 'enough to make one weep' department. Much more tragic grist for our mill. (And probably for Netflix's mill too).
Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY: "If the magistrate who Goines asked to sign a warrant to permit the raid on Harding Street had known of his history of lies and deception, he would not have signed it, and Rhogena and Dennis would likely still be alive today," Ogg said. While Tuttle and Nicholas were white, all of the defendants in the 164 cases identified by Ogg's office so far are members of minority groups, and the vast majority are black (as is Goines)."
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Goines, who served the Houston Police Department (HPD) for 34 years, has admittedthat he invented a fictional heroin purchase by a nonexistent confidential informant to justify the no-knock Harding Street raid. Four officers were wounded by gunshots during the exchange of fire that killed Tuttle and Nicholas, which began when the cops broke into the house and immediately used a shotgun to kill the couple's dog. Lawyers for Nicholas' family say she and Tuttle were napping at the time of the raid. Police found no evidence that the the couple was selling heroin, as Goines had claimed. One of the men framed by Goines, Otis Mallet, was sentenced to eight years in state prison because the officer claimed he was involved in a 2008 crack cocaine sale. Mallet, who served two years of that sentence, has always denied Goines' account. He was declared "actually innocent" in February, along with his brother, Steven Mallet, who served 10 months after Goines implicated him in the same purported transaction."
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Goines, who served the Houston Police Department (HPD) for 34 years, has admittedthat he invented a fictional heroin purchase by a nonexistent confidential informant to justify the no-knock Harding Street raid. Four officers were wounded by gunshots during the exchange of fire that killed Tuttle and Nicholas, which began when the cops broke into the house and immediately used a shotgun to kill the couple's dog. Lawyers for Nicholas' family say she and Tuttle were napping at the time of the raid. Police found no evidence that the the couple was selling heroin, as Goines had claimed. One of the men framed by Goines, Otis Mallet, was sentenced to eight years in state prison because the officer claimed he was involved in a 2008 crack cocaine sale. Mallet, who served two years of that sentence, has always denied Goines' account. He was declared "actually innocent" in February, along with his brother, Steven Mallet, who served 10 months after Goines implicated him in the same purported transaction."
STORY: "Prosecutors back dismissal of 91 more cases involving the Houston cop who lied to justify a deadly drug raid," by Jacob Sullum, published by Reason on May 25, 2020. (Jacob Sullum is a senior editor at Reason and a nationally syndicated columnist.)
SUB-HEADING: "The announcement brings the total number of suspect cases initiated by Gerald Goines to 164 over 11 years."
GIST: "Harris County, Texas, District Attorney Kim Ogg plans to support the reversal of "at least 91" more convictions in cases involving Gerald Goines, the former Houston narcotics officer whose fraudulent search warrant affidavit led to the January 2019 drug raid that killed Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas. Ogg's office had already backed the dismissal of 73 cases initiated by Goines, who faces state murder charges and federal civil rights charges in connection with the deadly invasion of the middle-aged couple's house on Harding Street.
"We will continue to work to clear people convicted solely on the word of a police officer who we can no longer trust," Ogg said in a press release last Thursday. "We are committed to making sure the criminal justice [system] is fair and just for everyone."
The latest batch of questionable cases all involved search warrants obtained by Goines. The previous batch involved cases in which Goines was the only purported witness to drug transactions he claimed to have observed.
Prosecutors are filing motions asking that lawyers be appointed for each of the 91 defendants. If those lawyers decide that Goines' sworn statements were material in convicting their clients and seek new trials on that basis (both of which seem likely), prosecutors "anticipate that they will agree to relief and eventual dismissal," Ogg said.
"We've come to the conclusion that every conviction in which Goines was the major player, for the past 11 years, needs to be flipped," said Josh Reiss, chief of the Post-Conviction Writs Division at Ogg's office. "The number of cases may grow."
Goines, who served the Houston Police Department (HPD) for 34 years, has admittedthat he invented a fictional heroin purchase by a nonexistent confidential informant to justify the no-knock Harding Street raid. Four officers were wounded by gunshots during the exchange of fire that killed Tuttle and Nicholas, which began when the cops broke into the house and immediately used a shotgun to kill the couple's dog. Lawyers for Nicholas' family say she and Tuttle were napping at the time of the raid. Police found no evidence that the the couple was selling heroin, as Goines had claimed.
One of the men framed by Goines, Otis Mallet, was sentenced to eight years in state prison because the officer claimed he was involved in a 2008 crack cocaine sale. Mallet, who served two years of that sentence, has always denied Goines' account. He was declared "actually innocent" in February, along with his brother, Steven Mallet, who served 10 months after Goines implicated him in the same purported transaction.
"If the magistrate who Goines asked to sign a warrant to permit the raid on Harding Street had known of his history of lies and deception, he would not have signed it, and Rhogena and Dennis would likely still be alive today," Ogg said. While Tuttle and Nicholas were white, all of the defendants in the 164 cases identified by Ogg's office so far are members of minority groups, and the vast majority are black (as is Goines).
Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo, who initially hailed Goines as a hero while posthumously tarring Tuttle and Nicholas as dangerous heroin dealers, has denied that the problems revealed by the disastrous Harding Street raid reflect a "systemic" failure within the HPD's Narcotics Division. At least 164 suspect convictions over 11 years involving a single officer suggest otherwise.
Another former Houston narcotics officer, Steven Bryant, faces state and federal charges because he backed up Goines' phony story about a "controlled buy" that never happened. It is hard to believe that no one else was complicit in Goines' shady practices spanning more than a decade, either by actively assisting him, by looking the other way, or by failing to adequately supervise his activities. Ogg said her office is investigating "other officers" in Goines' squad.""
https://reason.com/2020/05/25/
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;
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;
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FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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