Man's drug conviction 'should be reversed' due to ex-HPD cop's perjury: Harris County DA
HOUSTON - A Houston man's 2018 drug conviction "should be reversed," according to the Harris County District Attorney's Office.
The office released a statement on Thursday, saying it agreed with Fredrick Jeffrey that his conviction for possession of a controlled substance is "faulty" due to perjury and false evidence presented by former Houston Police Department Officer Gerald Goines.
"Frederick Jeffery’s case is a due process disaster," said district attorney Kim Ogg, in the statement. "In the wake of Harding Street, it is clear that Gerald Goines and other members of the Houston Police Department Narcotics Division engaged in a years-long scheme involving fictional drug buys, perjured warrants and phony overtime. Individuals like Frederick Jeffery were collateral damage."
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Goines was charged with murder and tampering with a government record for lying in an affidavit to obtain a no-knock warrant at a home on Harding Street. Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas, who resided at the home, were shot and killed by the HPD in a messy shootout when the warrant was executed on Jan. 28, 2019.
The DA’s Office has notified hundreds of individuals convicted on Goines' testimony that their convictions may have been compromised by similar misconduct. Jeffery was one of those notified.
Jeffrey's possession of a controlled substance conviction was "based almost exclusively on Goines' testimony." He is now serving a 25-year prison sentence.
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New evidence supports the conclusion that Goines lied in his affidavit supporting the warrant to search a house in the 2800 block of Nettleton Street. A controlled buy used as the basis to obtain a search warrant was fictional. The State also now believes Goines lied at trial about a statement Jeffery purportedly made regarding ownership of a cell phone linking him to the narcotics found in the home.
Both of Goines’ false statements were made under oath. Goines invoked his Fifth Amendment right not to testify in Jeffery’s post-conviction proceeding.
Prosecutors agreed that Jeffery is entitled to a bond while the Court of Criminal Appeals reviews the new evidence.
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Meanwhile, Goines’ case is pending. He also faces federal charges for violating the civil rights of Tuttle and Nicholas.