2nd drug case involving embattled Officer Gerald Goines dismissed in the 'interest of justice'

A second felony drug case involving an embattled Houston police narcotics officer already under investigation was dismissed Monday, this time in the "interest of justice." The move comes less than a week after the Harris County District Attorney's Office announced plans to review more than 1,400 cases connected to Officer Gerald Goines, the case agent accused of lying about the undercover heroin buy used to justify a no-knock raid that left two people dead. Of the hundreds of Goines' cases slated for review, 27 were active at the time of last week's announcement - including one that's already been dismissed. Since then, prosecutors have agreed to bond in two other cases and on Monday morning moved to toss a case against Treveon Cornett. The 24-year-old was arrested last year after police allegedly caught him with less than a gram of narcotics. From the start, Cornett said the drugs - a small amount of crack cocaine - weren't his, according to defense attorney Deborah Keyser. "I believe the right thing happened here," Keyser told the Chronicle hours after the court tossed the case. "I think he was truly innocent." Aside from finally netting what Keyser viewed as a positive outcome, Cornett's case also shed more light on the investigation into the events leading up to the deadly no-knock raid that landed Goines in hot water. Both Goines and fellow narcotics Officer Steven Bryant have since been relieved of duty, and court filings earlier this month identified them as subjects of an internal police investigation. Now, a motion filed in Cornett's case notes that Officer Oscar Pardo is "being investigated by the HCDA's Office Civil Rights Division" for a Jan. 28 shooting. It's not clear what his involvement may have been in the botched bust that ended in gunfire, whether he fired a shot, or ever went in the Pecan Park home. A Houston police spokesman confirmed that he works in narcotics, and union lawyers declined to comment. *** Cornett's now-dismissed case started in mid-July, after an undercover buy and a drug raid at home on Dorchester. But the operation was never targeting Cornett; instead, it centered on a man named Ivory Duncan. Two officers - Goines and Bryant - met with a confidential informant and watched from outside as the CI went in and allegedly bought a crack rock. The warrant doesn't specify how many drug deals the alleged informant was involved in previously, but the affidavit relies on that purchase to ask for a no-knock warrant. Even though the informant apparently didn't report seeing any guns in the house, Duncan had two prior gun charges so, Bryant wrote, "knocking and announcing would be dangerous, futile, or would inhibit the effective investigation of the offense described." Just like in the Pecan Park case, a city municipal judge greenlit the request for the risky no-knock entry. Days later, eight narcotics officers - including Goines and Bryant - burst into Duncan's small home, looking for drugs. In the process, police spotted Cornett sleeping in a broken-down car, where he'd gone to get away from the noise, his lawyer said. He didn't own the vehicle and didn't know about the trace amount of drugs inside, he maintained, but still police charged him. Officers also arrested another man who was standing across the street with some crack cocaine, according to Keyser. Duncan was arrested for being a felon in possession of a firearm, but the raid didn't net any drug charges against the primary target, records show. Earlier this month, Duncan's case was dismissed after prosecutors said they couldn't prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. ONLY ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: FBI opens civil rights investigation into botched Houston drug bust, police chief says The case dismissal comes on the heels of a controversial Jan. 28 raid that set off a gun battle ending in the deaths of 58-year-old Rhogena Nicholas, her 59-year-old husband Dennis Tuttle and their pit bull dog. Five officers were hurt, including Goines. The bust only netted 18 grams of marijuana, about a gram of cocaine, and none of the heroin police said they were looking for. In the days after the shooting, Goines underwent at least six surgeries and at one point was on a feeding tube with his jaw wired shut. But, even as he fought to recover in the hospital, questions began swirling about his actions leading up the deadly raid.Within weeks, investigators filed a warrant for access to Bryant's cell phone and other electronic data. In the affidavit explaining their need for the search, police revealed that an internal investigation showed Goines may have lied about the controlled buy used to justify the raid. Police questioned all of Goines' informants, and they all said they didn't do any undercover deals with the Tuttles. Bryant, meanwhile, told investigators he had retrieved the two bags of heroin from the center console of Goines' police car at the instruction of another officer - a claim apparently inconsistent with the affidavit used to justify the raid. Bryant eventually admitted he'd never seen the narcotics in question before retrieving them from the car. As news of the allegations emerged, the FBI got involved, launching a civil rights investigation into the event leading up to the raid. Also last week, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced the massive case review. 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2nd drug case involving embattled Officer Gerald Goines dismissed in the 'interest of justice'

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