Scrutinized Houston police narcotics officer resigns
A Houston police narcotics officer placed under investigation last month has resigned.
Juan Martinez joined the department in 2005. He was assigned to the narcotics division and was relieved July 16. He resigned Aug. 10, a spokesman said.
Several law enforcement sources previously said Martinez was being investigated for inappropriate conduct related to undercover operations and confidential informants.
After the Chronicle first reported Martinez was being investigated, Chief Art Acevedo told reporters that he was the subject of a proactive internal investigation and promised to provide more information once the investigation had been concluded.
On Monday, Acevedo said his investigators provided evidence to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas; both groups declined to prosecute.
The department closed an internal administration after Martinez resigned, Acevedo said.
“I’m precluded from saying anything further,” he said.
Houston Police Officers’ Union
Vice President Doug Griffith declined to comment, saying he was not familiar with the specifics of the investigation. Attempts to reach Martinez were unsuccessful.
The action is the latest to hit the narcotics division, which has come under scrutiny over the past 18 months after a January 2019 drug raid that led to the deaths of two homeowners and to the shooting of four officers.
The officer who led the raid, Gerald Goines, was later accused of lying about buying drugs from the home, and Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg subsequently announced prosecutors would be reviewing more than 14,000 cases Goines and his former squadmates had handled. In August, she charged him with murder.
Goines’ partner, Steven Bryant, and four other former narcotics officers and supervisors have been charged with an array of other crimes, including tampering with government records.
Goines was also charged in federal court in November with violating the civil rights of the couple killed in the raid. During Goines’ detention hearing, an FBI agent said one of Goines’ confidential informants told investigators that she and the former officer had a years-long sexual relationship.
A Chronicle investigation after the raid found additional misconduct within the narcotics division, showing officers filed false affidavits when they asked judges for warrants, performed sloppy investigative work and misrepresented their use of confidential informants.
Prosecutors also reviewed thousands of cases Goines and his squadmates had worked on and identified more than 150 defendants who may need to have their cases overturned. So far, three people have seen their convictions thrown out.