HPD Turns Over Documents To DA Related To Confidential Informants

HOUSTON — The Houston Police Department has handed over thousands of pages of documents to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office detailing HPD’s use of confidential informants dating back at least five years, officials said Monday.

The DA’s office issued an ultimatum to the department on Friday for the documents as prosecutors continue their probe into the deadly Harding Street raid in January that claimed two lives.

Last week, prosecutors requested the names of confidential informants used in HPD narcotics investigations since Jan. 1, 2014.

"The Harding Street case is huge and more complex than most other cases," Dane Schiller, spokesman for the DA’s Office said in a statement. "From possible misconduct to the use of confidential informants, we must review everything and get it right. The public demands and deserves nothing less."

Houston Police narcotics officers raided the home of Dennis Tuttle and his wife Rhogena Nicholas at 7815 Harding Street on Jan. 28, under the premise that black tar heroin was being sold inside the home, based on an affidavit that officials have now said was false.

HPD narcotics officers, utilizing a no-knock warrant, burst into the Tuttle home igniting a gun battle that left the couple dead, and four officers wounded.

Shortly after the shooting, officials learned that the affidavit to secure the no-knock warrant, which was written by retired HPD investigator Gerald Goines was based on lies.

The revelation forced Goines and fellow narcotics investigator Steven Bryant to retire and called into question thousands of narcotics cases involving the two officers.

RELATED STORIES:

• HPD's Botched Raid Investigation Turned Over To DA's Office
• 5 Houston Police Officers Injured, 2 Suspects Killed In Shootout
• HPD Officer Involved In Deadly Shooting Relieved Of Duty
• Police Release Names Of Suspects Killed In Narcotics Shootout
• HPD Chief Suggests Officer Lied On Affidavit In Deadly Drug Raid
• Houston Police Ending No-Knock Warrants In Wake Of Fatal Shooting
• Gerald Goines, HPD Investigator In Botched Raid, Retires

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