On a Wednesday afternoon in February 2008, Houston police raided a house at 5603 Elmlawn Drive, where they found a gram of PCP and 132 grams of cocaine.
asserted
they → raid → cocaine
They arrested several men at the property, including Byron Prophet, then 23, who was ultimately convicted of two drug charges and sentenced to 16 years in prison.
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who → arrest → prison
During Prophet's trial, Gerald Goines, a narcotics officer who had been employed by the Houston Police Department (HPD) for 24 years, testified that he saw the defendant enter the house twice through a door from the garage, unlocking the bars covering the entrance with a key that was later found in his pocket.
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that → employ → pocket
Prophet testified that he had never been inside the house and had no key.
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he → testify → key
Although the jury believed Goines, a deadly 2019 drug raid that he instigated by fabricating a heroin sale revealed that he was completely untrustworthy.
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he → believe → sale
Thanks to the belated scrutiny triggered by that scandal, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals vacated Prophet's convictions in 2024.
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Court → trigger → 2024
But Prophet, who was released on parole in 2014, had already served nearly six years in prison based on the unquestioned word of a drug cop with a long history of lying to obtain search warrants, justify arrests, and secure convictions.
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who → release → convictions
The case illustrates how the war on drugs invites police mendacity that may go undetected for years thanks to lax supervisors and credulous courts.
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that → illustrate → supervisors
In a federal lawsuit filed last week, Prophet argues that the responsibility for the injustice he suffered extends beyond Goines, who is currently serving a 60-year sentence for his role in the 2019 raid.
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who → file → raid
Long before that incident, Prophet says, Goines' supervisors were or should have been aware that he had a habit of framing innocent people.
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he → say → people
That is what Goines did in 2019, when he obtained a no-knock warrant to search the home of Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas, a middle-aged couple he falsely implicated in drug dealing.
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he → do → dealing
As Goines later admitted, his search warrant affidavit described a heroin purchase that never happened.
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that → admit → purchase
As a result of that fraudulent affidavit, police broke into the couple's home and shot their dog.
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police → break → dog
After Tuttle responded to that home invasion by grabbing a revolver and firing at the intruders, police killed him and Nicholas, who was unarmed.
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who → respond → him
Several officers, including Goines, were grievously injured during the raid, mainly by friendly fire.
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officers → include → fire
That fatal fiasco prompted the Harris County District Attorney's Office to re-examine thousands of drug cases involving Goines.
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fiasco → prompt → Goines
It concluded that 69 people might have been convicted based on false evidence he provided.
uncertain
he → conclude → evidence
Prophet has always insisted he had nothing to do with the drugs that police found in the house on Elmlawn Drive.
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police → insist → Drive
By his account, he rode his dirt bike to his grandmother's house that afternoon.
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he → ride → house
His uncle, a mechanic, also lived in the neighborhood, and Prophet wanted his help in repairing the dirt bike.
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Prophet → live → bike
Prophet found his uncle working on a car in front of Louis Pugh's house, the target of the raid, which was a few doors down from his grandmother's home.
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which → find → home
Prophet testified that he did not associate with Pugh, who was a friend of his uncle's, and never entered the house, although he fetched tools from Pugh's garage.
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he → testify → garage
Goines, by contrast, claimed that Prophet repeatedly entered the house, spending a total of 13 minutes inside.
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Prophet → claim → minutes
He also claimed to have seen Prophet's state-issued identification card on a kitchen counter near the PCP and cocaine.
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He → claim → PCP
He said Prophet tried to flee when the raid started and had a key to the house in his pocket when he was searched.
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he → say → pocket
According to Prophet, none of that was true.
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none → accord → that
But the case pitted a veteran narcotics officer against a young man who admitted that he had previously been convicted of burglarly and three minor drug offenses.
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he → pit → offenses
The jurors, who apparently did not seriously entertain the possibility that Goines was lying, accepted his account.
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Goines → entertain → account
So did the 1st District Court of Appeals, which upheld Prophet's convictions in 2010.
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which → do → 2010
The court deemed Goines' testimony sufficient to establish Prophet's alleged connection to the drugs.
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testimony → deem → drugs
The jurors might have been less inclined to believe Goines if they had known how he obtained the warrant for the raid on Pugh's house.
uncertain
he → believe → house
"Goines wrote in the application that a confidential informant had performed a controlled drug purchase for the police at the property two days earlier," the lawsuit says.
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lawsuit → write → property
"In reality, there was no genuine confidential informant and no drugs were purchased."
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drugs → be → reality
That fabricated evidence foreshadowed the fraud that would culminate in the deaths of Tuttle and Nicholas 11 years later.
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that → fabricate → Tuttle
And according to the lawsuit, it was part of a pattern that should have been clear by the time of Prophet's arrest.
uncertain
that → accord → arrest
At that point, Goines was "well-known" for submitting search warrant affidavits that "falsely claimed a confidential informant had purchased drugs" at the targeted property, the complaint says.
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complaint → know → property
"Goines would fabricate evidence that led to drug raids, falsify reports, and 'pay off' officers by falsifying overtime records of officers who participated in the drug raids.
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who → fabricate → raids
The City of Houston and HPD officials were aware that Defendant Goines used these tactics and had a problematic history of violating resident's constitutional rights, but allowed him to continue operating in such fashion."
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him → use → fashion
In addition to Goines, the defendants in Prophet's lawsuit include two other officers, the city of Houston, and former Police Chief Harold Hurtt, who ran the HPD from 2004 to 2009.
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who → include → 2009
The complaint alleges that Officers James Yencha and Richard Salter conspired with Goines to violate Prophet's constitutional rights and that the HPD "turned a blind eye" to their misconduct.
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HPD → allege → misconduct
…and 26 more, not listed.
