Three officers sentenced in Tyre Nichols’ death

Three former Memphis officers were convicted on Oct. 3 of charges of witness tampering in the 2023 fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, and two were acquitted of federal civil rights violations in a death that sparked national protests and calls for broad changes in policing.
Jurors deliberated for about six hours before coming back with the mixed verdict for Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith.
Each of the three was convicted of at least one charge, but Bean and Smith were acquitted of civil rights charges. Haley was acquitted of violating Nichols’ civil rights causing death, but convicted of the lesser charge of violating his civil rights causing bodily injury.
The judge ordered the officers to be taken into custody. A hearing was scheduled for Oct. 7 to hear from the defense lawyers about releasing them pending sentencing. The witness tampering charges carry possible sentences of up to 20 years in prison.
Rodney Wells, Nichols’ stepfather, told The Associated Press outside the courtroom: “A win is a win. They’re all going to jail.”
Five officers were charged in Nichols’ death, but two pleaded guilty and testified against members of their old crime suppression unit, eliminating any defense strategy that would have relied on them sticking together. Jurors repeatedly watched graphic clips from police video that showed the officers punch and kick Nichols and hit him with a police baton just steps from his home, as the 29-year-old called out for his mother.
Prosecutors said the officers lied — to a supervisor, to medical professionals attending to Nichols and in required written reports — about the extent of the force they used.
Nichols, who was Black, ran from the traffic stop despite being hit with pepper spray and a Taser. The five officers, who were fired after the beating, also are Black.
Nichols died Jan. 10, 2023, three days after the beating. He left behind a 7-year-old son.
The five officers also have been charged with second-degree murder in state court, where they pleaded not guilty, although Mills and Martin are expected to change their pleas. A trial date in state court has not been set.