George Floyd May Get Posthumously Pardon For 2004 Drug Arrest

There is a in resolution being considered in Harris County, Texas where George Floyd grew up, concerning a possible pardon for Floyd's drug arrest there in 2004.  Five members of the Harris County Commissioners Court unanimously approved a resolution in support of a pardon request.

It's not a done deal yet. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles first must recommend the pardon and Texas Governor Greg Abbott will have the final say in the matter.  “I think this is a phenomenal opportunity to fix a miscarriage of justice in George’s case,” Tera Brown, a cousin of Floyd, told commissioners before they approved the resolution.

This resolution has little to do with the 2020 killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin. The resolution stems from a charges against a former Houston police officer that arrested Floyd in 2004 for selling $10 worth of crack in a police sting operation.

The Houston police officer in question, Gerald Goines, is now facing two counts of felony murder in the deaths of Dennis Tuttle and Tuttle's wife, Rhogena Nicholis.  They were both killed in a drug raid in Houston in 2019.

Prosecutors claim Goines lied to a judge to get a search warrant for the couples home by saying that a confidential informant had purchased drugs there. Later it was discovered that Goines had lied about that.

This case has resulted in over 160 drug cases in Harris County that were tied to former officer Goines to be dismissed.

The pardon request for Floyd was filed by Allison Mathis, attorney for Harris County Public Defenders Office.  Mathis told commissioners that this was "not a political issue."

“No matter how you feel about Mr. Floyd, about his life or his death, Mr. Floyd does not deserve to have this stain and take a wrongful conviction on his record,” Mathis said.