HOUSTON (CN) — Gerald Goines, the former Houston police officer convicted in September of felony murder, suffered a sudden medical episode during court proceedings on Thursday, abruptly stopping the closing arguments on Goines’ sentencing.
Shortly before 11 a.m., as prosecutors addressed the jury, one of Goines’ lawyers motioned to a bailiff for assistance. Judge Veronica Nelson swiftly dismissed the jury for the day as officers escorted Goines out of the building and into an ambulance. Observers noted that Goines was breathing heavily as he was taken from the courtroom.
A jury found Goines guilty last week on two counts of felony murder and tampering with a government document for his role in a no-knock police raid in 2019. Goines had lied to a judge to obtain the search warrant, but prosecutors pressed beyond that underlying charge, arguing that the lie made him responsible for the deaths of Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas that day.
Defense attorney Nicole Deborde asked the jury for leniency in her closing arguments, citing Goines’ age and health. She called on them to give him the minimum sentence of five years, stating that for the 60-year-old officer, “Anything close to 10 years is a death sentence.”
Relatives called to testify in the sentencing phase also pointed to the many surgeries he required after he was shot in the face during the 2019 police raid, and to health complications from years before the raid.
Prosecutor Tanisha Manning had just begun her closing arguments when the judge stopped the day’s proceedings. She had not yet told the jury how long a sentence the prosecution would seek. Manning had directed her argument more forcefully toward Goines himself in the moments before the recess.
Neither side gave any statement after the court adjourned for the day, due to the strict gag order placed on the trial.
Nelson paused proceedings until Goines can undergo a health assessment. The judge has not yet announced whether court will resume on Friday or remain paused until Monday.