US jury acquits three Memphis police officers in Tyre Nichols beating death | Courts News

A jury in the United States has acquired three former police officers in the controversial death of Tire Nichols, a 29 -year -old father who was killed after a traffic stop in Memphis, Tennessee.

On Wednesday, former officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith were declared innocent in a state -level case that included positions or second degree murder, aggravated assault, kidnapping of aggravation and official.

This was his second criminal trial, after facing federal charges for the death of Nichols too.

In that case, the three officers were also acquired by the most serious charges they faced, they thought that he declared himself guilty of witnesses manipulated by allegedly trying to cover up the beating.

There were five police officers in total involved in the murder of Nichols, which took place on January 7, 2023. As the beating video extended online, the death of Nichols revived the debate on the violence of the application of the law and the overpolation of black communities.

Following the verdict, Memphis’s district prosecutor Steve Mulroy told journalists that Nichols’ family was “devastated” and “outraged.”

“We can understand why they would be outraged, given the evidence,” Mulroy said.

“I was surprised that there was only one verdict of guilt in any of the counts or any of the less aluminous crimes, given the excessive evidence we present? Yes, it surprised me,” he added. “I have an explanation? No.”

The five police officers involved in the beating were members of the Scorpion Unit of the Memphis Police Department, in a now missing squad that focused on alleged critical crime points in the city. The protest after the death of Nichols led him to leave band.

On the day of his murder, Nichols was arrested for allegedly leading to Suptlesly, thoughts that prosecutors have questioned that reason, pointing out that police force cameras do not show evidence of irregularities.

The officers took Nichols out of his car and expelled him while on the ground. Nichols then tried to flee. He ran into a residential neighborhood not far from where his mother lived, where the five policemen fought him against the ground and proceed to kick, hit him and hit him with a cane.

The cameras captured Nichols crying their mother in search of help. He died at the hospital later. An autopsy identified its cause of death as a force of force in the head.

Two of the police officers involved, Desmond Mills JR and IMMITT Martin, had avoided the trial when they reached federal prosecutors in exchange for guilt statements. According to reports, the two tok -also related to state charges.

Wednesday’s verdict was the culmination of a nine -day trial for the other three officers.

The three defense team sought to change the other officers for most of the violence. He also accused Nichols of resisting the trial and not complying with police orders, leaving the aforementioned officers for their safety.

“This is that of Emmitt Martin and Tire Nichols,” said Martin Zummach, Smith’s defense lawyer, one of the three officers.

Zummach also claimed that the credit and debit cards that do not belong to Nichols were found in their car after their beating. That, he said to the jury, could explain Nichols’ decision to flee from the scene.

But prosecutors in the case argued that Nichols fled from fear for his life. They also said that the officers had the responsibility of stopping the beating, which caused tears and bleeding in the brain of Nichols.

The beating video was also shown to the jury from different angles, since prosecutors tried to condemn the violence of the final moments of Nichols.

The trial, which saw seven days of hearings and two days of jury’s deliberations, took place in Hamilton County, a majority white area in Tennessee. A judge had previously ordered that the judicial processes move away from Shelby County, where Memphis is, for fear that the public scrutiny could skew the jury pool.

The civil rights lawyer Ben Crump, who represented the Nichols family, issued a statement after Wednesday’s decision to denounce the result.

“Today’s verdicts are a devastating spontaneous abortion,” says the statement. “The world observed how Tire Nichols was beaten until death by jurors to protect and serve.”