DA probing Goines’ ‘suspect’ 2004 drug arrest of Floyd
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office is investigating the 2004 arrest of George Floyd by disgraced former Houston police officer Gerald Goines in a probe that could lead to additional convictions being vacated.
Floyd, who died last month as a Minneapolis police officer pinned him to the ground with a knee to the neck, was arrested in 2004 by Goines after Floyd bought a small amount of crack cocaine from him. Floyd pleaded guilty and received a 10-month state jail sentence, according to court records.
Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said Saturday that Goines’ arrest of Floyd revealed an offense report that is “incomplete and suspect,” and instructed prosecutors to verify the facts of the report. “If this review reveals misconduct we will presume that all of Goines’ convictions between 2019 to 2004 to be tainted,” Ogg said in a statement.
Goines has since been at the center of a huge scandal after leading a case that led to the deaths of two people in a botched raid. The Harris County District Attorney’s Office is re-investigating his cases, sending notices to thousands of defendants convicted based on Goines’ casework over the years, including Floyd.
Nicole DeBorde, Goines’ attorney, said Goines “stands behind George Floyd and all that his tragic murder represents,” and accused Ogg of perpetuating “systemic racism” by tainting Goines’ reputation through the media.
“The idea that somehow, without a shred of new information, that there is anything with concern with a case that is over a decade and a half old is just an opportunistic distraction on Ogg’s part,” DeBorde said.
Dane Schiller, a spokesman for the DA’s office, previously said that officials have not determined whether Floyd was arrested on false grounds. “Our civil rights division is looking at that arrest as part of their ongoing investigation,” Schiller said.
The Floyd arrest is the latest addition to Ogg’s expansive probe of more than 160 Goines cases. On Wednesday, Ogg announced another 91 cases that prosecutors believe should be dismissed because of the role Goines played in the convictions. Prosecutors made a similar request to judges in February, citing about 70 cases between 2008 and 2019 in which defendants were convicted solely on Goines’ casework.
Goines first came under scrutiny after the Jan. 28, 2019, raid that claimed the lives of Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas and wounded four officers. Goines was charged with murder and violating the rights of the slain couple. Goines maintains his innocence. Goines is also charged with civil rights violations in federal court.