A jury has received instructions from a judge about how to deliberate and issue a unanimous verdict in the federal trial of three former Memphis police officers charged with violating Tyre Nichols’ civil rights in a fatal beating that followed a 2023 traffic stop. U.S. District Judge Mark Norris read the lengthy instructions ahead of closing arguments expected later in the day. Norris spent Tuesday hearing arguments from lawyers about what the instructions would entail.
To find Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley or Justin Smith guilty of using too much force, Norris said jurors would need to find that the officers acted as law enforcement officers, violated Nichols’ right to be free from the use of excessive force and showed “deliberate indifference” to his injuries, resulting in bodily injury or death. The jury also must consider whether the officers used their “split second judgment” in deciding the force required to handcuff Nichols after he fled from the police.
During the incident, five officers, all Black, were seen on police video punching, kicking, and hitting Nichols, also Black, just a block away from his residence, as he called out for his mother. Two of the officers, Desmond Mills and Emmitt Martin, pleaded guilty and testified for the prosecutors. Supporters joined Nichols’ family in walking into the courthouse, where they prayed for justice with Tennessee state Rep. Justin Pearson leading the prayer and chants of “Justice for Tyre.”
Tennessee state Rep. G.A. Hardaway emphasized that the federal trial is just the beginning, with a state trial pending and the Department of Justice investigating the Memphis Police Department. Attorneys for Bean, Haley and Smith concluded their cases by presenting experts to counter the prosecution’s arguments that the officers used excessive force, failed to intervene, and did not report the severity of the beating to their supervisors and medical personnel. Nichols tragically passed away three days after the incident from head injuries sustained during the beating, as confirmed by an autopsy report.
The officers involved used pepper spray and a Taser on Nichols during the traffic stop, but he chose to run away, as seen in police video footage. Prosecutors alleged that the officers attacked Nichols because he tried to escape, as part of a purported common police practice known as the “street tax” or “run tax.” The Scorpion Unit, to which the officers belonged, was disbanded after Nichols’ demise. Bean, Haley, and Smith pleaded not guilty to federal charges of excessive force, failure to intervene, and obstructing justice through witness tampering, facing potential life imprisonment upon conviction.
Moreover, the officers face separate state charges of second-degree murder, with Mills and Martin anticipated to change their pleas. The trial date for the state case remains undetermined. Associated Press journalists Jonathan Mattise in Nashville and Kristin M. Hall in Memphis contributed to this report.