Jury finds ex-officers not guilty in traffic stop beating death of Tyre Nichols

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC/Gray News) - A jury found three former officers charged in the death of Tyre Nichols not guilty of all state charges.

Court officials confirmed on Wednesday that Taddarius Bean, Justin Smith and Demetrius Haley were acquitted of seven charges, including second-degree murder.

The men were three of the five former officers accused in the January 2023 traffic stop beating and death of Nichols, a Memphis resident.

The men were charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping with bodily injury, aggravated kidnapping with deadly weapon, official misconduct, unauthorized exercise of official authority, official misconduct, refraining from performing a duty and official oppression.

Jury deliberations exceeded eight hours and took place across two court sessions. Their decision came on the ninth day of the trial.

The defense for all three former officers on trial rested their cases over the weekend after calling 17 witnesses total, more than triple the number of witnesses the prosecution called to testify. The former officers on trial chose not to testify in their own defense.

The state rested its case on the third day of the trial after calling just five witnesses total.

On the night of Jan.7, 2023, investigators said that officers with the Memphis Police Department‘s now-defunct SCORPION Unit pulled Nichols for alleged reckless driving.

Investigators said he ran from an initial traffic stop until officers caught him near his parents’ house.

The five former Memphis police officers are accused of then fatally beating Nichols, who was unarmed, in their effort to detain him.

Nichols was unresponsive by the time he was in cuffs and died at the hospital three days later.

Desmond Mills Jr. testified Tuesday as part of his plea deal. He also pleaded guilty to his federal charges.

The state trial of one of the other officers involved, Emmitt Martin III, will be separate from the others.

“There sit three men who are criminally responsible for the murder, the aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assaults of Tyre Nichols, as well as official misconduct and official oppression,” said Shelby County Assistant District Attorney Tanisha Johnson during closing arguments.

It was previously testified that Nichols’ cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head. His manner of death was ruled a homicide.

The chief medical examiner and forensic pathologist who performed Nichols’ autopsy testified last week that the 29-year-old’s injuries were consistent with those he sees in fatal car crashes.

“I usually see these type of injuries in car accidents, for example, or people falling off of a high height of some sort,” said Dr. Marco Ross with the West Tennessee Regional Forensic Center.

Attorneys for all former officers on trial attested that this was the most difficult arrest any of them had made in their policing careers, largely citing Nichols’ “superhuman strength” despite his small stature.

The defense argued that the SCORPION Unit was created for violent crime suppression in “hot spot” areas of the city.

Within three weeks of its launch in 2021, the unit made 338 arrests, including 125 felony arrests, and recovered 95 weapons from Memphis’ streets. It was testified last week that most of the suspects whom the SCORPION Unit detained were armed when they were searched.

Attorneys also argued that these officers had consistent experience with dangerous felons and that Nichols would still be alive if he had complied with their demands.

“All Tyre Nichols had to do was say, ‘Alright, you got me!’” said Martin Zummach, who represented Smith.

They cited the stress of the job and have repeatedly emphasized that until a suspect is handcuffed and searched, no one on the scene is safe.

Prosecutors, however, claimed the former officers were angry and wanted revenge after Nichols ran from the initial traffic stop.

“Men overcome by anger and frustration and overcome by the moment who literally beat a man to death,” said Shelby County Deputy District Attorney Paul Hagerman.

Prosecutors argued that Nichols’ death warrants a murder conviction because the co-defendants knowingly used excessive force, kept quiet about the injuries Nichols suffered, and then tried to cover it up.

One of the now-former EMTs who treated Nichols at the scene told the jury last week that none of the officers who arrested Nichols told first responders that he had been repeatedly punched or kicked in the head.

Robert Long testified that medical personnel were only told that the suspect appeared to be on drugs. He told the jury that the medical care he gave Nichols would have been different had he known otherwise.

Bean, Haley, and Smith were previously convicted of federal witness tampering related to the cover-up.

The state told the judge earlier in this state trial that they believed that the most incriminating evidence against the former officers is the SkyCop surveillance video that depicts the alleged assault from an aerial perspective.

The Nichols family still has a pending civil lawsuit against the City of Memphis for $550 million.