Brothers arrested by Goines among many cases being reviewed by DA

HOUSTON (FOX 26) - Brothers Nino Johnson and Jarrad Alexander share more than DNA -- they share a history of being arrested by officer Gerald Goines, so says a third brother Richard North.

"He knew everybody in the neighborhood, just targeting them. It's like he was hunting them almost. Every time my brother got out of jail a little time would go by and then 'boom! It's him again," says North.

Theirs are two of the 27 active Goines cases put on hold while the DA investigates further. The DA is looking at a grand total of about 1,400 cases. This after a police investigation into the deadly raid on Harding Street turned up that Goines may have lied to get a search warrant. 

One active Goines case has already been dismissed. Courtney Jacobs got out of jail Thursday.

Norm Silverman represents the brothers. He says they don't want simple dismissal.

"We will be investigating to determine if Habeas Corpus writs should be filed in all of the priors involving Goines," Silverman says. "We'll be asking for the files from the DA's office so we can see what's there.”

It's not clear how many of the Goines cases will be dismissed, but remember 1,400 of them are closed. Now those defendants who served time could push for either federal civil rights cases or to have themselves declared actually innocent. Either way, the taxpayers of Houston and Harris County could be on the hook for a lot of money.

"It could be into the millions of dollars that both of these government agencies are responsible. We're guessing today if any of these 1,400 cases are affected by this," FOX 26 senior legal analyst Chris Tritico says.

In the meantime, the brothers are laying low, trying to avoid another arrest that could snarl things up.

"I've never seen my brothers so scared before. He's terrorized right now, scared to go places because he's always thinking they guys are going to come get him for something," said North.