The graphic footage of a group of Memphis police officers beating Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black FedEx worker for roughly three minutes in January 2023, despite his cries for help and his mother, stunned the nation and brought intense scrutiny to the city’s law enforcement practices.
A trial is now underway for three of those former officers for federal civil rights, conspiracy and obstruction offenses in connection with the confrontation, which led to Mr. Nichols’s death three days later. Two other former officers have pleaded guilty to federal charges and will not face trial, though they may be called to testify.
Opening statements are expected Wednesday, and the trial is expected to last at least three weeks.
Here’s what to know about the case.
What is at stake in the trial?
Prosecutions involving police officers have in recent years produced a mixed array of verdicts, including acquittals, convictions and at least one mistrial.
Should the three officers facing trial — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith — be convicted on charges of deprivation of rights under color of law, they could face up to life in prison. They also face charges related to obstruction and witness tampering that are punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
The trial also presents the first opportunity to answer key questions about what happened on the evening of Jan. 7, 2023, including why Mr. Nichols was stopped by the police.
And the federal prosecution is just part of the fallout in connection with the beating and death of Mr. Nichols: the five officers, all of whom are Black, also face various state felony charges, including second-degree murder; their specialized police unit has been disbanded; and the Justice Department is investigating the agency’s policing practices.
Mr. Nichols’s family has also filed a multi-million-dollar lawsuit against the city and the Police Department and has continued to push for changes to policing practices in Memphis. The city, however, remains in a standoff with the Republican-controlled State Legislature over policing and gun safety changes.
What happened when Tyre Nichols was pulled over?
Much of what is known about Mr. Nichols’s fatal encounter with the police comes from footage taken from body cameras and surveillance video. The footage begins as a traffic stop is already underway. Police officers, yelling with their guns raised, approach Mr. Nichols’s car, open his door and pull him out of the vehicle. Mr. Nichols says that he “didn’t do anything.”
He drops to the ground, on his side, as officers surround him. He appears not to resist, though he struggles as the officers hold down parts of his body and threaten him. He is pepper-sprayed, and an officer fires a stun gun at Mr. Nichols as he stands up and runs.
The video shows that eight minutes later he has been pursued into a suburban neighborhood, where officers begin severely beating him close to his mother’s home. They are seen kicking Mr. Nichols in the head when he is on the ground and pulling him back up as another officer uses an extendable baton to hit him multiple times.
Mr. Nichols does not appear to be fighting back throughout the beating, which ends with his falling to the ground. More officers arrive on the scene moments later, and Mr. Nichols is not seen receiving medical attention for several minutes.
An autopsy declared his death on Jan. 10 a homicide from blunt force injuries to his head.
But it is still unclear why the officers stopped Mr. Nichols on his drive home. Top police officials walked back initial claims that it was for reckless driving.
Who are the officers on trial?
Mr. Haley was among the officers who first stopped Mr. Nichols and pulled him from the car, with an expletive-laden order. After Mr. Nichols broke away and ran toward his mother’s house, Mr. Smith and Mr. Bean chased and tackled him. Video shows the two men repeatedly striking Mr. Nichols in the head.
After Mr. Haley arrived, street surveillance footage shows his turning on his phone flashlight and snapping photos of Mr. Nichols, bloody and slumped against the car.
Two former officers who participated in the beating initially pleaded not guilty to the federal charges, but changed their pleas after striking an agreement with federal prosecutors.
One officer, Desmond Mills Jr., pleaded guilty to two felony charges of obstruction of justice and excessive force in November. Prosecutors recommended a 15-year prison sentence.
Months later, a second officer, Emmitt Martin III, pleaded guilty to one count of deprivation of rights under color of law, for both participating in and allowing for the unlawful assault of Mr. Nichols, and to another count related to conspiracy and witness tampering, after he discussed with the other officers lying or downplaying what happened to his superiors. Prosecutors said they would recommend a 40-year prison sentence.
Who might testify at the trial?
Many of the documents related to the trial have been sealed from public view, including questionnaires filled out by the pool of possible jurors and details about the evidence that may be raised. But Judge Mark S. Norris on Monday read more than three dozen names from a list of potential witnesses, including both Mr. Martin and Mr. Mills.
The list also included Preston Hemphill, a former Memphis police officer who shot his stun gun at Mr. Nichols as he ran away from the police, and Dewayne Smith, the supervising lieutenant who arrived to the scene after the beating. Mr. Hemphill was fired and Mr. Smith retired, though police officials said he would have been fired. Neither man was charged.
Judge Norris, a former Republican state senator nominated to the bench by former President Donald J. Trump, has taken painstaking care in the opening days of the trial to emphasize impartiality. At one point, he asked some of the prospective jurors to consider the characteristics of a good juror, how to handle bias and, perhaps most notably, could they be impartial after viewing video that showed police using force.
“Think about the unique situation you’re in,” Judge Norris told the jurors on the first day. “Your decision must be unanimous. It must be based on what you hear.”
On Tuesday, federal prosecutors and defense lawyers for the three former officers selected a dozen jurors and four alternates, a group of eight men and eight women, after speaking with nearly 50 people.
The post What to Know About the Trial Over Tyre Nichols’s Death appeared first on New York Times.
