FILE – This combination of undated file photos provided by the Houston Police Department shows Steven Bryant, left, and Gerald Goines, in Houston. Prosecutors said Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2020, they believe a second person who was convicted based on what they allege is false testimony by Goines, an ex-Houston police officer whose cases are being reviewed following a 2019 deadly drug raid, is actually innocent. Bryant is also facing state and federal charges in the deadly raid. Both men were relieved of duty after the shooting and later retired. (Houston Police Department via AP, File)
HOUSTON (AP) — A judge formally exonerated a second person Thursday who had been convicted and imprisoned based on testimony by a disgraced Houston ex-police officer.
Steven Mallet had pleaded guilty in 2009 to a drug charge. His brother Otis was also convicted.
State District Judge Kelli Johnson declared Steven Mallet innocent days after his brother also was declared innocent.
Prosecutors say they believe both men were convicted based on testimony by Gerald Goines, whose cases are now being reviewed after he was accused of lying in a search warrant that led to a drug raid that killed a two people.
The brothers’ cases now go to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which would make the final ruling on both.
Goines is facing two counts of felony murder in state court for the deaths of the couple and is also facing seven counts in federal court over allegedly providing false information in the raid.
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