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topicnews · September 5, 2024

The federal trial against Tyre Nichols begins on Monday. What you need to know

The federal trial against Tyre Nichols begins on Monday. What you need to know

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After a series of scheduling changes and delays, the federal criminal trial of Tyre Nichols is scheduled to begin Monday in one of the courtrooms on the ninth floor of the Odell Horton Federal Building.

The trial, which will last until the one-year anniversary of the indictment accusing him of numerous civil rights violations, comes about 20 months after Nichols was stopped and beaten by five former Memphis Police Department officers.

Nichols’ death sparked outrage and grief and ignited a desire for change across the city. His funeral was attended by several prominent faces, including Vice President Kamala Harris, and he vowed to work to pass nationwide police reform that would bear his name alongside George Floyd’s.

His death brought international media attention back to Memphis, which had been in the spotlight just months earlier for two tragedies.

Nichols was stopped on the evening of January 7, 2023. The police department initially said Nichols was stopped for reckless driving. This was later disputed by Police Department interim Chief Cerelyn “CJ” Davis, who said there was no evidence Nichols ever drove recklessly.

The released footage from the night he was struck did not include any in-car or body camera footage of Nichols before he was stopped. The line-of-duty charges the officers faced before being fired included body and in-car camera violations.

Footage of the incident begins on former police officer Preston Hemphill’s body camera. It shows officers already yelling at Nichols, telling him to get out of the car. Nichols asked officers what he did to get stopped, but no response from the officers could be heard.

Hemphill was ultimately released, but no criminal charges were filed against him.

Eventually, police officers pull him from his car and take him to the ground. While shouting conflicting orders at him, they begin spraying Nichols with pepper spray. Hemphill can be seen holding his taser to Nichols’ back.

After officers detain Nichols for several minutes, the 29-year-old jumps out of the crowd and runs away. Hemphill fires his taser at Nichols, and it is unclear whether or not it hit him. Nichols takes off his jacket and continues to run away from the officers.

“I hope they kick his ass,” Hemphill is heard saying after he stops chasing Nichols.

Eventually he runs past more police officers who chase and attack him. Once he is caught, he is punched, kicked, sprayed with pepper spray and beaten with a baton while the officers hold Nichols down. After the beating, Nichols is handcuffed and leaned against an unmarked patrol car.

Additional officers arrived at the scene and bodycam footage captured the conversation between officers. At some points, officers joked about hitting Nichols with “haymakers” and talked about how they “rocked” him.

Nearly 30 minutes of video shows Nichols being taken to St. Francis Hospital in critical condition. A video released over a year after the beating provided more details about what happened after he was admitted to the hospital.

Former Lt. Dewayne Smith — the supervisor on duty that night who later resigned from the department but was not prosecuted — took former officer Desmond Mills Jr. to the home of RowVaughn and Rodney Wells after the fight. At the home, which is less than 100 yards from where Nichols was beaten, Smith tells Nichols’ parents that he was arrested for drunk driving.

Smith claimed that Nichols had “something other than” marijuana and alcohol in his system and told them that Nichols would go to jail after receiving medical treatment.

As Smith and Mills approach the crime scene, Mills tells Smith, “But he’s got to make it. He doesn’t look very good.”

Nichols died in the hospital three days later. The cause of death was blunt trauma to the head, according to his autopsy report.

Internal investigations, indictments and international reporting after Nichols’ death

Nichols’ beating and subsequent death were immediately investigated by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. The TBI typically gets called in when a local district attorney raises questions about use of force, most commonly police shootings. In this case, Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy called for an investigation.

Internal investigation documents released by the City of Memphis also show that an investigator was immediately dispatched to look for departmental violations.

Previous reporting: City of Memphis subpoenaed prosecutor’s documents and communications between Nichols family and Justice Department

Legal news: Prosecutor advertises case numbers, judge rejects change of jurisdiction in pastor’s murder case | On the indictment list

Five officers – Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Mills and Justin Smith – were immediately fired on January 20, 2023. Within three weeks of Nichols’ beating, the five were also charged at the state level.

On January 26, 2023, they were each charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, two counts of abuse of office, and one count of abdication of office.

Hemphill was also fired from the department, and Dewayne Smith resigned before his internal affairs hearing. The city later said it would have fired him had he not resigned. Neither former officer has been charged, but both are named in a $550 million civil suit against the city.

The charges drew international media attention to Memphis, a city that had been in the spotlight a few months earlier after local teacher Eliza Fletcher was kidnapped and a man went on a rampage a few days later.

National and international news agencies speculated that there would be large, violent protests, similar to those following the murder of George Floyd in 2020. Although protesters took to the streets before and after the charges were brought, the protests were peaceful demonstrations.

During one of these demonstrations on the night that the first footage of the beating of Nichols was released, the I-55 bridge was closed, among other things.

Since the indictment, the state case has been pending. All parties have agreed to wait until the federal criminal case is concluded before proceeding to trial.

It took much longer for the former officers to be charged at the federal level. In September 2023, a federal indictment was filed accusing the officers of violating Nichols’ civil rights. The four-count indictment alleged that the officers used excessive force, acted knowingly indifferently toward Nichols, conspired to tamper with witnesses, and attempted witness tampering.

If convicted, the officers could have faced the death penalty. However, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it would not seek the death penalty. The officers still face life sentences.

There is no parole in the federal system.

In the federal case, there were a number of motions and two guilty pleas

Although the case is initially being heard in court before the Federal Court, it is characterized by numerous motions and amendments.

The disputes between defense attorneys and Justice Department prosecutors included possible changes in venue, as well as questions about which witnesses would be allowed to testify and what evidence would be admitted during the trial.

Many of the motions were filed under seal, including arguments about whether to admit evidence cataloging the contents of Nichols’ car at the time of his stop. Defense attorneys argued that Nichols was high during the fight and that he had hallucinogenic drugs and stolen debit and credit cards on him.

Two former police officers, Mills and Martin, have pleaded guilty.

Mills pleaded guilty in November to excessive use of force and conspiracy to tamper with witnesses. His other charges were dropped. Federal prosecutors recommended that Mills be sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Martin entered his guilty plea on August 23. He also pleaded guilty to excessive use of force and conspiracy to tamper with witnesses, but prosecutors recommended a 40-year prison sentence for Martin.

Ultimately, sentencing will be decided by Judge Mark S. Norris, who is presiding over the case. Norris could sentence Martin and Mills to harsher sentences, including life imprisonment.

The beating of Nichols was also felt outside the courtroom

Nichols’ death sparked calls for changes in local policing. Activists and members of the Memphis City Council joined forces and passed ordinances that would reform the department’s traffic stop policies and create publicly accessible traffic stop databases.

An ordinance preventing police officers from stopping people in what are known as “sham stops” was later banned by the Tennessee General Assembly. The bill prohibiting the ordinance’s implementation was passed by the Republican supermajority along party lines and over objections from Nichols’ family.

The beating also sparked an investigation into the practices of the Memphis Police Department, the most labor-intensive and in-depth look into the functioning of a police department that the Department of Justice can provide.

The Justice Department announced the investigation in July 2023, months before the officers were charged in federal court.

More: What to expect from the Justice Department’s investigation into Memphis police: A look at other cities

Local news: Here’s what the Memphis City Council’s lawsuit says about gun control ballot questions

Nichols’ death also led to the dissolution of the SCORPION unit, a special forces unit that was touted as a violent crime-fighting unit. Each officer fired was part of the unit, which was an acronym for “Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods.”

Although the police were established and designated as a special violent crimes unit, most arrests were made for non-violent drug offenses. More than a quarter of arrests were for minor traffic offenses. About 21% of arrests were for some form of firearm offense, including both violent and non-violent gun offenses.

The charges against the five officers also sparked a review of about 100 state cases involving the officers. Of those 100 cases, between 30 and 40 were dismissed, Mulroy said.

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