OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
11:45 AM – Friday, October 4, 2024
In federal court on Thursday, three of the five former Memphis police officers who are accused of beating Tyre Nichols to death received a mixed verdict from the jury.
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Deliberations by the jury started at around 10:15 a.m. on Thursday, October 3rd, 2024. At 4:30 p.m., they finally announced that a decision had been made.
The jury returned a decision in favor of Tadarrius Bean, Justin Smith, and Demetrius Haley after roughly six and a half hours of deliberation.
Tadarrius Bean
The jury found that Bean was only found guilty of obstruction, count four. Counts one through three—deprivation of rights, deliberate indifference, and conspiracy—were dismissed from his case.
Demetrius Haley
Haley was convicted on two lesser counts of violation of rights resulting in bodily damage and willful disregard. Haley was found guilty on counts three and four, which involved obstruction and conspiracy to commit obstruction.
Justin Smith
Both counts one and two—deprivation of rights as well as deliberate indifference and the lower charge of deprivation of rights resulting in bodily injury—were dismissed from Smith’s case. Smith was found guilty of obstruction on count four but not guilty of conspiracy on count three.
The four-count federal indictment against the three former Memphis Police Department officers implicated in Tyre Nichols’ killing went on trial for almost four weeks.
The cops faced accusations of deprivation of rights under color of law, conspiracy to tamper with witnesses, obstruction of justice through tampering with witnesses, and excessive force and willful indifference.
Although lawyers protested, U.S. Marshals still took them all into custody. A detention hearing was scheduled on Monday. January 22nd, 2025 will be their sentencing date.
After calling 19 witnesses, including two former MPD SCORPION Unit officers who admitted to beating Nichols to death in 2023, Desmond Mills Jr. and Emmitt Martin III, the prosecution rested its case on Thursday, September 26th. During their testimonies, both acknowledged their faults.
“Martin and Mills face recommended prison sentences of up to 40 and 15 years, respectively,” reported ABC 24, a local Memphis station.
Without needing to bring any of the three former Memphis Police officers to testify, their attorneys rested their cases. On Monday, September 30th, after calling both current and former police to the witness stand, Smith’s lawyer, Martin Zummach, was the last to rest. On Wednesday, October 2nd, the prosecutors and attorneys made their final arguments.
“On January 7, 2023, Tyre Nichols was brutally beaten after a traffic stop by Memphis Police Department officers. The Memphis Police Department initially stated on January 8 that the traffic stop of Nichols was due to reckless driving, but later on January 27, the Memphis police chief stated that the footage showed no evidence of probable cause for the traffic stop. Following the traffic stop, an initial altercation ensued during which officers deployed pepper spray and a Taser. Nichols fled on foot, and within a short distance, a second altercation occurred when Memphis Police Officers caught up with him, then punched and kicked Nichols’s face, and hit his back with a baton. Media outlets reported that the footage did not show Nichols resisting or appearing to provoke officers during the beating. He was hospitalized in critical condition and ultimately died on January 10, 2023,” according to attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the Nichols family.
Not long after the incident, the five officers were fired. September 2023 saw their indictment on federal civil rights charges, in addition to the state allegations, which claimed they used excessive force while lying about the assault.
The five former police officers were a part of the crime-fighting squad known as the Scorpion unit, which was dissolved by authorities following Nichols’ death.
Additionally, sometime in March 2025 will be the scheduled date of the jury trial for the $550 million lawsuit that the Nichols family has brought against the City of Memphis. Attorney Ben Crump stated that they “plan to go full speed ahead” with a civil lawsuit following the verdict in the federal trial.
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