George Floyd receives posthumous pardon for drug conviction in 2004

Last week the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles recommended that George Floyd receive a posthumous full pardon for his 2004 drug conviction. Former Houston Police Department (HPD) officer Gerald Goines, who arrested George Floyd in 2004, is currently awaiting trial for double homicides in a botched drug raid in 2019 in which prosecutors allege Goines knowingly provided false evidence a no-knock guarantee to get it.

Since that reveal, more than 160 goines-related drug convictions have been dismissed by Texas prosecutors and an additional 1,400 criminal cases are under review. The unanimous recommendation to pardon George Floyd has been forwarded to Texas Governor Greg Abbott for final decision. The Republican governor of Texas must now decide whether to overturn the drug conviction that changed the life of George Floyd forever and ended in his tragic death by Minneapolis law enforcement.

Photo by munshots via Unsplash

Trying to pardon George Floyd posthumously

Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg wrote a letter to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles in April 2021 recommending a posthumous pardon to George Floyd. In February 2004, George Floyd, then based in Houston, was arrested for allegedly selling $ 10 crack cocaine to a police informant who later sold the drugs to Officer Goines. The alleged informant was never arrested or identified. Based on Officer Goines’ testimony, Floyd was charged and subsequently found guilty and sentenced to 10 months in prison.

District Attorney Ogg’s letter to the Texas Pardons and Paroles Board further explains that officer Goines was involved in a botched drug raid in January 2019 that killed two citizens and wounded four HPD officers, including Goines himself Harris County prosecutors now claim Goines oath provided false information to obtain the warrant for the raid. Ogg stated in her letter to the Texas Pardons and Paroles Board, “Former Officer Goines is not credible. We do not support the integrity of Mr. Floyd’s conviction and we agree that these circumstances warrant a posthumous pardon. “

The Pecan Park Raid & Police Coverup

On January 28, 2019, HPD officials raided a house in the Pecan Park area of ​​southeast Houston while looking for heroin. The homeowners, Dennis Wayne Tuttle and Rhogena Ann Nicholas, and their dog were shot dead by HPD officials during the raid. No heroin was found in the home and the “informant” who was the source of the information on which the request for the warrant was based could not be located. Goines later claimed there was no informant and that he had bought heroin at the residence himself.

According to HPD officials, the officers shot the victims because Tuttle was armed with a gun and Nicholas was reaching for an officer’s gun. The victims’ families hired a forensic team to independently investigate the crime scene. The forensic team found no evidence that the victims shot the officers, but found evidence that the police, who were standing outside the home, shot blindly into the home.

Photo by Spencer Platt / Getty Images

On August 23, 2019, Goines was charged with double murders under Texas state law. A colleague, Steven Bryant, has been charged with tampering with government documents for attempting to help Goines cover up the illegally obtained arrest warrant. Both were arrested by the FBI a few months later in November 2019, with Goines charged with violating federal citizenship rights and obstruction of justice for falsifying government files.

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Former HPD official Steven Bryant eventually pleaded guilty to federal charges of forging government records. He admitted doing this to protect ex-officer Goines. Bryant said he found the warrant in the house during the raid and found that Goines lied when he made a heroin purchase in the apartment. Bryant then wrote a supplementary report falsely claiming to have accompanied Goines during the purchase. During the attempted cover-up, Bryant claimed that the heroin found in Goine’s car was from the alleged drug purchase, but the HPD now says the heroin came from another raid that Goines also provided false information in order to obtain an arrest warrant.

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In January 2020, a Texas grand jury charged Goines with murder and manipulation of government documents. A Harris County District Attorney’s press release alleged that former officer Goines misrepresented the raid victims’ drug activities and lied about other information necessary to obtain the warrant. Goines face up to 99 years or life imprisonment for these charges. Since then, six other former HPD officials have been charged on 17 different counts related to their roles in the botched drug raid.

The ongoing threat of the drug war

Texas Governor Greg Abbott must now decide whether to grant George Floyd’s posthumous pardon. The deaths of George Floyd, Dennis Wayne Tuttle and Rhogena Ann Nicholas show that the dangers of law enforcement posed by the war on drugs are still very real and a defining civil rights issue of our time.

Brett Mulligan joined the Green Light Law Group in September 2021. He supports the litigation and transaction attorneys of the firm in legal research and drafting. You can reach him at info @gl-lg.com or (503) 488-5424.

This article originally appeared in the Green Light Law Group and was republished with permission.