DALLAS (Audacy) — The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles has voted 7-0 to grant George Floyd, the Black man killed by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020, a posthumous pardon.
Floyd was convicted on a drug charge in Houston in 2004 after being arrested by now-indicted former Houston police officer Gerald Goines.
Attorney Allison Mathis with the Harris County Public Defender's Office applied for the pardon in May. She said Harris County looked at 20 years of cases in which Goines was involved, and one of the people on the list was George Floyd.
"Nothing particularity jumped out at us," said Mathis.
"There are plenty of people named George Floyd, and thinking that it was the George Floyd who had just died in police custody was not on our radar."
Floyd lived most of his life in Houston before moving to Minneapolis. In 2004, Goines arrested Floyd for selling a small amount of crack cocaine.
But Goines' drug convictions came under intense scrutiny after he was indicted for murder and other charges for leading a deadly "no-knock" raid on a Houston couple. Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nichalos were killed in the raid.
Goines is accused of lying to get a warrant for that raid. Mathis noted Goines was usually the only witness to criminal activity on his arrests.
Mattis said their options were limited to get some justice for Floyd.
"Usually the kind of petition I would have filed is a petition of Habeas Corpus," said Mathis.
"But a Habeas petition is only something you can file when a person is alive. Texas is one of the only states that has a posthumous pardon process, and that's the only avenue we could pursue to try and correct the record for someone who is deceased."
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Governor Abbott must sign off in order for the pardon to be granted. Mathis does not think he will give his approval.
"I personally don't agree with most of the decisions he makes and I don't feel like he's particularly interested in pursuing justice," said Mathis.
"I think the evidence is there that this conviction did not have any integrity and that Mr. Floyd's freedom was taken unconstitutionally. I hope he makes the right decision, but I don't have a lot of faith that he will."
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Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg shared the following statement:
We lament the loss of former Houstonian George Floyd and hope that his family finds comfort in Monday’s decision by the Texas State Board of Pardons and Paroles to recommend clemency for a 2004 conviction involving former Houston Police Department Officer Gerald Goines.
In a April 28, 2021 letter to the Board, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg stated, “We do not support the integrity of Mr. Floyd’s conviction and agree these circumstances warrant a posthumous pardon.”
We urge Governor Abbott to follow the Board’s recommendation and grant clemency.
See the request for a posthomous pardon here.