A federal jury has convicted three former Memphis police officers of some federal civil rights violations and found them not guilty of others in the 2023 beating death of Tyre Nichols.
Fired Memphis police detectives Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, and Justin Smith were all convicted of obstruction of justice and witness tampering. They were also found not guilty of depriving Nichols’ of his civil rights resulting in death – the harshest charge they faced. Haley was found guilty of depriving Nichols of his civil rights and deliberate indifference resulting in serious bodily injury, NPR reports.
Two of the ex-officers, Emmitt Martin and Desmond Mills, Jr., pleaded guilty and testified against the others. They said Nichols, who weighed 175 pounds, did not pose a real threat to the five policemen.
Nichols, who was 29, died three days after the incident, and the coroner determined it was a homicide from blunt force trauma.
At the trial, which began Sept. 9, defense lawyers argued that it was a high-risk traffic stop and officers acted within MPD policy after Nichols ran a red light and failed to stop when pursued by police. They said officers escalated their use of force after Nichols ran from them despite being tased and pepper-sprayed.
