Man convicted in case tied to disgraced ex-cop exonerated

HOUSTON – 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.