Juror Excused From Murder Trial Of Former HPD Officer Gerald Goines On Second Day

HOUSTON, Texas – Tuesday is the second day of the murder trial of a former Houston Police Department narcotics officer charged with murder in connection with the deadly 2019 Harding Street raid.

On Monday, we heard opening statements from both sides, the state and the defense. The state argued that Goines’ lies led to the deaths of Dennis Tuttle, 59, and Rhogena Nicholas, 58, and their family dog.

While the defense team, which admitted that Goines fabricated certain things in the affidavit to receive the no-knock warrant and after the deadly raid while he was in the hospital, argues that Goines is “overcharged” and did not murder or cause the killings of Tuttle and Nicholas.

Goines pleaded not guilty to both murder counts Monday.

We also heard from three witnesses, one of Tuttles and Nicholas’ neighbors, and two HPD officers who responded to the initial 911 call on January 8, 2019. One of the officers, Nicole Blankenship-Reeves, documented the 911 call and relayed her information to HPD Lt. Marsha Todd, who supervised Goines. Blankenship-Reeves admitted during her testimony that she had a personal relationship with Todd.

KPRC 2 Investigative Reporter Mario Diaz, Senior Investigative Producer Jason Nguyen, Senior Special Projects Producer Andrea Slaydon and Digital Content Specialist Ninfa Saavedra are live from the trial providing the latest updates on “The Bench: Gerald Goines.”

10:20 a.m. – Juror excused

Juror No. 9 was excused from the Gerald Goines murder trial on the second day of the trial because she told the judge she did not think she could be fair in the case because she remembered knowing about the murder raid. The juror said that during the testimony of one of the HPD officers, she remembered hearing about the Harding Street raid. She also admitted to having a conversation after the first day of the trial with her cousin about the murder raid. The judge dismissed the juror, with both sides agreeing.

9:45 a.m. – Opening of the court session