Federal appeals judges last week wrestled with a high-stakes question that cuts straight to the heart of Houston’s most infamous drug raid: can a former Houston police officer be held civilly liable for his role in the botched Harding Street operation that left a south Houston couple dead?
At issue is whether former Officer Felipe Gallegos is entitled to immunity for shots he fired after a no-knock warrant was executed on Jan. 28, 2019. The decision will help determine whether the families’ claims ever reach a jury and could influence how courts evaluate split-second uses of force in cases tied to allegedly fabricated warrants.
Appeals panel heard the immunity claim
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit heard arguments on April 28 on whether Gallegos should be shielded from the families’ federal civil-rights lawsuit. According to the Houston Chronicle, the judges spent roughly 40 minutes probing the immunity question, and as of May 4, 2026, the court had not issued a ruling.
What the record says
Court filings and a prior opinion from the Fifth Circuit spell out the key facts. Officers executed a no-knock warrant at the house listed as 7815 Harding Street on Jan. 28, 2019, and gunfire erupted within seconds. Homeowners Rhogena Nicholas and Dennis Tuttle were killed, and four officers were wounded.
A 2023 appellate filing framed the dispute around whether officers who fired during the raid, including Gallegos, are entitled to qualified immunity, as described in the Fifth Circuit.
Lawyers clashed over who fired and when
During oral argument, Gallegos’ legal team acknowledged that officers should never have been at the house. They pressed the panel to protect an officer who did not draft the faulty warrant, arguing he responded in the moment and within the scope of his duties.
"No officer should have been at that house that day. No one should have been killed," Gallegos’ attorney John MacVane told the panel. The families' lawyer countered that while some initial gunfire might have been justified, later shots went too far and crossed constitutional lines, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Charges, convictions and the wider fallout
Former narcotics lieutenant Gerald Goines, the officer who wrote the affidavit used to secure the warrant, was later convicted and in October 2024 received a lengthy prison sentence, reporting shows. The Fifth Circuit’s filings note that a district court declined to dismiss the excessive-force claims and allowed several issues to move forward, as reflected in court records.
Gallegos was criminally indicted in 2021, but the murder charge against him was dropped months later after prosecutors raised concerns about a former assistant district attorney’s conduct, according to Click2Houston. The outlet also covered Goines’ 2024 sentencing.
Why the ruling matters
If the appeals court finds that Gallegos is immune, this particular federal civil-rights case by the families likely comes to a stop. If the judges deny immunity, the lawsuit heads back to federal district court and a jury could eventually be asked to sort out who did what and when inside the Harding Street home.
Either way, the forthcoming ruling is poised to be closely watched in Houston, where the Harding Street raid continues to cast a long shadow, and in the broader national debate over no-knock warrants and police accountability.
