Ex-HPD chief Art Acevedo defends ordering officer to turn off bodycam after deadly Harding St. raid

KTRK

By Courtney Fischer

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    HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Testimony continues Thursday on day four of the murder trial for former Houston police officer Gerald Goines.

Over five years ago, on Jan. 28, 2019, a fake 911 call resulted in a no-knock warrant from HPD’s narcotics squad at the home of husband and wife Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas. The Harding Street raid left Tuttle, Nicholas, and their dog dead from a rain of police gunfire in their own southeast Texas home.

Both the defense and prosecutors say Goines — the lead HPD agent involved in the raid — lied about drug activity at the house to obtain the initial warrant.

The third day of Goines’ murder trial started with officer Valeriano Rios on the stand. He was part of the group that participated in the no-knock raid.

Prosecutors showed jurors Rios’ body camera video in court. The video was cut short, not by Rios, but by former HPD Chief Art Acevedo.

Acevedo was seen on camera telling Rios to turn off his body camera. Rios told prosecutors he wasn’t sure why Acevedo asked him to do so.

Rios said he remained at the scene for about another hour after turning off his camera.

ABC13 reporter Jessica Willey talked to Acevedo, who said asking an officer to turn off their bodycam is the standard practice. He said it’s OK for an officer to turn their camera off when the officer is on the perimeter of a scene or not interacting with other citizens.

A former police captain who spoke to ABC13 criticized his response, saying officers have been suspended for turning off their cameras in the past.

HPD’s current policy — which has been in place since 2017 — says there are four instances in which an officer can turn off a bodycam, including when a supervisor approves it on “extended scenes.”

– When all contacts with the public are complete
– When all arrests and transports have been made
– When speaking with an undercover officer
– When approved by a supervisor on “extended scenes”

The entire trial is expected to last at least three weeks.

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