3 former Memphis police officers found not guilty in the death of Tyre Nichols

A jury found three former Memphis police officers not guilty of all charges in the death of Tyre Nichols, including the most serious charge of second degree murder.

The men, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith, faced a total of seven counts in the state trial for their role in the 2023 fatal beating of Nichols, a 29-year-old father who had told officers he was on his way home when they stopped him.

They hugged each other and their attorneys after the verdict was read.

The Nichols’ family left the courtroom without speaking to the media after the verdict. They spoke briefly with Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy who said they were “devastated” and “outraged”.

“I think we can understand why they’d be outraged by this result given the evidence.” evidence,” he said.

A total of five former officers were initially fired and charged with both federal and state crimes related to Nichols’ death. Two pleaded guilty in federal court last year and testified against their former colleagues. Both Emmitt Martin and Desmond Mills also intend to plead guilty to state offenses.

This was the second time the three officers faced trial. Last fall, they were convicted in a separate federal case of witness tampering for misleading superiors about their actions. Bean and Smith were acquitted of violating Nichols civil rights but the jury found Haley guilty.

The officers pulled Nichols over on Jan. 7, 2023 for a traffic stop that spiraled into violence. Nichols ran on foot after being pepper-sprayed and threatened with a taser. Graphic body camera footage and a police neighborhood surveillance camera captured officers then either restraining, kicking, punching or striking him with a baton as they took him into custody.

He eventually went into cardiac arrest at the scene, according to a responding paramedic and medical records. He died at the hospital three days later. An autopsy attributed his death to blunt force trauma to the head.

Throughout the trial, the sequestered jury from the Chattanooga area watched video footage of the arrest multiple times from multiple angles. Prosecutors said the men on trial either used or witnessed excessive force and failed to stop it. Officers also didn’t alert medical responders, the prosecution said, that Nichols had been struck in the head.

Over about two-and-a-half days, prosecutors moved quickly, calling only five witnesses, including Mills, a medical examiner and Nichols’ mother, RowVaughn Wells.

Delivering her closing arguments Monday, Assistant District Attorney Melanie Headley encouraged jurors to listen closely to the videos. She said that as Nichols struggles with his injuries before being cuffed, he moans for help.

“Who is supposed to help him? Those guys. They’ve got a duty. A duty to help him, and they don’t,” she said. “No witness told you Tyre punched, Tyre kicked, Tyre spit. He didn’t cuss. He didn’t…do any of those things.”  

Headly also emphasized the law of criminal responsibility for the jury, which they could use to convict the officers of second degree murder using proof that a “defendant’s guilt is based on the conduct of another person.”

“They’re all out there,” she said. “They’re all doing it together.”

Defense attorneys for the three former officers pushed back and said that although Nichols death was a tragedy, he posed an unknown risk to officers because he fled the stop before he was searched.

Each defendant called his own use-of-force experts who testified that the individuals used their police training to escalate force against Nichols to handcuff him when they say he resisted.

The defense also sought to blame Nichols’ death on Martin, who is shown on video repeatedly kicking and punching him in the head. Attorneys for Smith and Bean dispute whether they were unable to see or stop Martin’s conduct due to the heavy use of pepper spray and chaos of the arrest.

“First of all, they didn’t see it and second of all, they could not let go of this suspect,” Martin Zummach, who represents Smith, said. “This is crazy to evaluate this case on slow motion video in a 70-degree courtroom versus out there on a dark street.”

Haley arrived at the arrest scene last and kicked Nichols, which his attorney says was to the arm and necessary to help handcuff him.

“This case is a case that started with officers doing a legal investigation, having probable cause to stop a motorist, having probable cause to put him in handcuffs and search him and then everything falling apart from there when Mr. Nichols would not cooperate,” Stephen Leffler said.

For the first time, the defense introduced evidence of items that investigators found in Nichols’ car including a small amount of a hallucinogenic drug. They also said there were credit and debit cards not in Nichols name that the defense alleges were stolen.

The prosecution said officers did not know about the contents at the time of the arrest and it was irrelevant to the officers’ conduct. Nichols ran from the traffic stop, they said, because of the officers’ aggressive tactics which included pulling him from his car and shouting combative threats and commands.

“You know who’s not on trial this week? Tyre Nichols,” Headley said. “He’s the victim in this case.”

In the wake of his death, Nichols’ parents have become vocal advocates for police reform. His mother is suing the city of Memphis for $550 million. The case is slated to go to trial next year.