woman sentenced for false report call that led to wrongful killing by police

A woman who made false emergency 911 call against her neighbors, which ended up leading to police wrongfully killing two innocent people, has been sentenced to 3 years and 4 four months in prison.

A Texas woman was sentenced to three years and four months in federal prison for making false 911 calls regarding her neighbors in January 2019 resulting in a deadly Houston police raid killing both homeowners.

Patricia Garcia told dispatchers that her daughter was at her neighbor's home, describing 59-year-old Dennis Tuttle and 58-year-old Nicholas as addicts and drug dealers who had firearms, including machine guns, inside their residence. But none of those claims were true. Garcia did not even have a daughter.

"There's no question in my mind, Ms. Garcia, in that you wanted something bad to happen," US Judge George Hanks said during the sentencing hearing held by videoconference Tuesday. "You didn't really care what happened, and respectfully, the court can't condone that."

20 days later, the two homeowners were fatally shot during a botched narcotics operation at their home that also left five officers injured, including one paralyzed from the neck down, and soon struck national headlines at the time.

Garcia's attorney told the court that what happened to the couple was due to "rogue and corrupt police officers." Garcia said that when she made the false 911 calls, she didn't mean for anyone to die the way they did.

Prosecutors say Garcia was under the influence of drugs and alcohol when she made the three 911 calls on January 8, 2019 to get back at her neighbors Tuttle and Nicholas over a longstanding feud.

Officers Gerald Goines and Felipe Gallegos are facing murder charges in state court, related to the botched raid.

Goines, the officer who led the raid and who has since retired, allegedly lied to obtain the warrant to search the couple's home by claiming a confidential informant had bought heroin there. He later said there was no informant and he had bought the drugs himself, prosecutors said. Police claim to have found small amounts of marijuana and cocaine in the house, but no heroin.

The sentencing comes a week after Goines' former partner, Steven Bryant, pleaded guilty in federal court to one count related to obstructing justice by falsifying records. He will be sentenced August 24 (2021).

As a result of this scandal that came to light, more than 160 drug convictions tied to Goines have since been dismissed by prosecutors, since authorities felt they could no longer be sure of the reliability of the officer's testimony.

Mike Doyle, the attorney representing Nicholas' family, said Garcia's sentencing was a "small step forward," but said the Houston Police Department still must address significant issues since the raid.
"The central questions of the city’s two-year, million-dollar cover-up of the killings of Rhogena Nicholas and Dennis Tuttle remain unanswered: What happened, before and after the HPD murderous raid?" he said. "The Nicholas family and public still need answers from the mayor and the police chief." ​

Woman sentenced to federal prison over bogus 911 calls resulting in multiple deaths (msn.com)


It's also notable that she was sentenced in a federal court, rather than a state of Texas court, which brings up some Constitutional issues. (However in this story, that's mostly besides the point)


I happen to agree with this judge's decision in this particular case. However, it does raise the question of whether someone who falsely leads police to conduct a raid can be held responsible for a death when that death was the result of a police mistake or misconduct.


related story: young man sentenced to 20 years for false emergency phone call

 

Read some more about this case online and this is one of the most frustrating cases I have ever seen. I guess the cops were too lazy to do some investigating and assumed Garcia was telling the truth. Don't interview her further to see if she is credible or talk to neighbors.