Last Updated on 09/09/2024 by Arun jain
Federal trial for three former Memphis police officers charged in death Tire Nichols Jury selection is set to begin Monday. The former officers are accused of violating the civil rights of Nichols, a 29-year-old man whose fatal beating was caught on police camera while protests and calls for police reform have also been sparked.
Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith have pleaded not guilty to charges that they deprived Nichols of his rights by excessive force and failure to intervene and obstructed justice by tampering with a witness.
Nichols was pulled over in his car in January 2023 and fled from police after he was ejected from the vehicle. Officers caught up with Nichols and dragged him into a Memphis neighborhood, police video shows.
Jurors will be selected from a pool of about 200 people. The trial is expected to last three to four weeks and will draw media coverage across the country. Nichols’ family is expected to attend the trial.
Nichols, who was black, Died in hospital on January 10, 2023, three days after he was kicked, punched and beaten with a police baton during a traffic stop on January 7. Memphis was liberated. Police body camera footage And surveillance street camera tape later that month that captured the violent incident on video shows five officers, who are also black, beating Nichols as he screamed for his mother about the block from his home. The video also showed officers milling about and talking to each other as Nichols sat on the ground struggling with his injuries.
Officials said Nichols was pulled over for reckless driving, but Memphis’ police chief has said there is no evidence to support that claim.
Nichols worked for FedEx, and enjoyed skateboarding and photography.
An autopsy report indicated that Nichols died of blunt force trauma to the head and the manner of death was homicide. The report described brain injuries and cuts and bruises to the head and other parts.
The three officers now facing trial, along with Emmitt Martin III and Desmond Mills Jr., were fired after Nichols’ death for violating Memphis Police Department policies. They were members of the Crime Squad Scorpion unitwhich was created by the Memphis police force to address street crime. The group became notorious, and weeks after Nichols’ death, Memphis police announced that it disbanded and “permanently inactive.”
Shortly after their dismissal, the five officers were charged in state court with second-degree murder, where they pleaded not guilty. They were subsequently indicted by a federal grand jury in September 2023.
Both Mills and Martin have pleaded guilty in federal court and may testify at trial. A hearing date in state court has not been set.
Mills was the first of five former officers charged in Nichols’ death Agree to a deal last november He pleaded guilty to excessive force and obstruction of justice, as well as related state charges, and agreed to serve as a cooperating witness in both federal and state investigations, the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office said at the time.
Martin Pleaded guilty in August For charges of excessive force and witness tampering, days before the judge set a deadline for any plea agreement in the case.
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