Newly-released Tyre Nichols documents show discrepancies between statements, bodycam footage

Thousands of additional documents pertaining to the police officers who fatally beat Tyre Nichols on Jan. 7 last year, and officers who later arrived at the scene, were released by the City of Memphis Wednesday.

The documents did not contain statements made by officers during internal investigations and documents that reference those statements were redacted. However, the newly released documents do include non-law enforcement witness reports from the night of the beating and show that more officers were given reprimands for their conduct that night than was previously known.

Wednesday's release comes two weeks after hours of additional audio and video footage from the night of the beating was released by the city, and comes about three months after Shelby County Criminal Court Judge James Jones Jr. ordered the release of the documents. The court order followed a monthslong court battle between a coalition of news outlets and defendants in the state case.

"This court has determined that a delay in the public production of such information would not only advance the defendants' right to a fair trial, but also help ensure a fair trial for all parties involved in this case," Jones wrote in the November court order. "In balancing the interest of protecting the constitutional rights of the parties and the public interest in having access to information, the court now finds that the parties have had ample time to review all the records and is appropriate to rescind the previous two orders delaying the release of information in the possession of the city and county governments."

On Tuesday, Memphis Mayor Paul Young said his administration was committed to being open with the public.

“We understand the importance of releasing these documents to the public. This release represents our commitment to transparency," he said in a statement.

This story will be updated as The Commercial Appeal reviews the newly-released documents.

Internal investigation shows discrepancies between officer statements, bodycam footage

The internal investigator who initially investigated the beating spoke with now former Lt. Dewayne Smith, who seemed to be at the hospital, the night Nichols was beaten. According to the internal investigative report, at 11:49 p.m. on Jan. 7, 2023, Smith told the investigator that Nichols was in intensive care, on a ventilator "and had a bump on his head."

Smith told the investigator a similar story to the original incident report, saying Nichols was resisting and grabbing for an officer’s gun. The internal investigator then reviewed the body camera footage.

"(Former officer Preston) Hemphill exited with weapon pointed," the investigator noted of Hemphill’s body camera footage. "One officer at the driver side. One officer at the passenger side. Driver is removed from driver side. Profanity. Non-violent. Complied with getting on the ground."

The investigator also noted Hemphill saying there "ain't nothing in the car, so I don’t know what he was trying to hide or just on something." Defense attorneys for the officers have since alleged that Nichols’ car had stolen credit and debit cards, and hallucinogenic substances inside it, citing a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation report. Those court filings seemingly contradict Hemphill’s statement in the bodycam footage.

The Ridgeway Station's daily shift summary showed no drugs of any type were recovered on the day of Nichols' beating. The shift summary log would have included drugs recovered from Nichols' vehicle, had there been any. MPD declined to comment on the log Wednesday, saying that the department does not comment on pending litigation.

When the relief of duty notice for the officers involved was approved by MPD Deputy Chief Paul Wright early in the morning of Jan. 8, 2023, Wright also approved mandatory drug screens for Hemphill, Emmitt Martin, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills and Justin Smith. The results from that test were not included in the released documents.

The boots from the officers, according to the internal investigation timeline, were also to be taken and tagged for evidence.

All six of those officers were fired after Nichols' death. Martin, Bean, Haley, Mills and Smith were criminally charged in both state and federal court. Mills is the only officer as of Wednesday to enter a plea deal.

Response to resistance form also conflicts with footage

A response to resistance form, which officers are required to fill out when any amount of force is used during an arrest, also conflicted with what was seen in video of the altercation with Nichols.

"After struggling with the suspect Detective T. Bean utilized soft hands techniques with a closed hand which was not effective. The suspect continued to resist officers, in which additional officers made the scene to place the suspect into custody," the form read.

The statement conflicts with what is shown in body camera footage. Soft hands techniques typically include open palm strikes like slaps or pulling an individual around. Hard hands techniques include actions like punches and kicks. Videos show officers repeatedly punching and kicking Nichols.

The reason for use-of-force listed on the form was "protect others."

MPD documents show additional internal reprimands

The internal investigation file lists a number of additional internal reprimands against officers that were previously unknown. In addition to the eight officers who either were fired or resigned in the wake of Nichols’ beating, five other officers received reprimands that ranged from body camera violations to not completing or inaccurately completing a response to resistance form.

The officers who were previously unnamed, but were identified in the report, are Christopher Wilson, Christopher Mohney, Charles Morris, Jamil Matthews and Irma Montes. None of those officers are facing criminal charges related to Nichols' beating and death.

The internal investigation files also include a number of witness statements that were taken from the night Nichols was beaten. One woman who was interviewed said she did not see the beating, but witnessed the aftermath.

"…I said, 'Oh my god, they just raised his arm and it fell,'" the civilian witness said of the medical personnel checking on Nichols. "That’s when I’m like man, something’s wrong with dude. And it just bothered me that everybody was standing out in the street. Had no care in the world that this guy was laying here and couldn’t — I never heard the guy say a word. I never did."

More: Dismissals, venue changes, delaying trial among deadline motions in Tyre Nichols federal case

She also said she took a number of videos and that all the police cars she could see were unmarked. She also said she believed the officers and paramedics took too long to help Nichols at the scene.

The next 60 pages included in the file after the resident's statement were completely redacted.

The internal investigation file also includes a copy of the original police report that was written by officers immediately after Nichols was taken to the hospital.

That incident report indicated Nichols was charged with aggravated assault and listed Martin as the victim. Martin is one of the five who has been criminally charged. The report said Nichols was “driving recklessly at a high rate of speed” when officers first saw him.

The report goes on to say a traffic stop was conducted and Nichols "started to fight with detectives."

"Detectives noticed that the suspect Tyre Nichols was sweating profusely and irate when he exited the vehicle," the incident report read. "Detectives gave verbal commands to stop resisting and then the suspect Tyre Nichols grabbed for Detective Martin’s gun."

It says Haley, another former officer facing criminal charges, then sprayed Nichols with pepper spray and "Tyre Nichols continued to fight." That was when Hemphill fired his Taser, the report read, but Nichols "pulled the probes out" and ran away.

There have been conflicting reports about whether the Taser Hemphill fired actually hit Nichols or not. Some documents released Wednesday indicate that it did, while others say the prongs did not due to the clothes Nichols was wearing. An autopsy report released after Nichols' death did not mention wounds from Taser prongs.

The report alleges that Nichols was caught after a foot chase, and "he began actively resisting by pulling duty belts and grabbing Officer [Justin] Smith by his vest."

"He was given multiple commands to stop resisting, which he ignored," the incident report said. "Chemical agent was deployed again and it was ineffective. Detective Mills deployed his department-issued ASP baton while giving verbal commands to stop resisting, striking him several times in the right arm attempting to get the suspect Tyre Nichols to comply."

The report ends with a statement from RowVaughn Wells, Nichols’ mother. Wells said Nichols "went out with friends and she believes that they may have spiked his drink."

Body camera footage released showed multiple inconsistencies with this report, including with what Wells told officers. In body camera footage, she could be seen telling Hemphill that Nichols goes to Starbucks with friends. It also showed that Nichols was not the aggressor, nor did he appear to grab for an officer’s gun during the incident.

A subsequent incident report, filed three days later, listed Nichols as the victim of a "miscellaneous/non-reportable" offense.

There was also a "felony response supplement" in the same file, with multiple lines redacted. The supplement appears to be an additional investigation document to the aggravated assault report. When the investigator, listed as Sgt. C. Young, arrived at St. Francis Hospital, he reported a redacted paragraph that ended with, "I was unable to get a clear view" while also stating, "I have never seen that before."

"I attempted to gain a condition from the assistant nurse manager for the floor, Rebekah," Young’s supplement continued. "She refused to give any updated information, claiming HIPAA, and advised that she had already spoken with the hospital’s law division."

An internal incident report, sent by Dewayne Smith, listed a different reason for Nichols being stopped. Smith’s report said Nichols was “observed traveling westbound on Raines Road from southbound Riverdale Road in the opposing lane of traffic.” Smith also said Nichols "appeared to be impaired and acting irrational" after he was detained following the beating.

More: Federal criminal trial in Tyre Nichols case pushed back. Here's why and when it will be

Neither of the reports mentioned punches or kicks being thrown at Nichols, and the original incident report was the only report in this document to mention Nichols' condition as critical.

Personnel files give more information about other officers on the scene

Wilson, one of the first officers on the scene after the beating, had been arrested in December 2019 after an altercation with his wife.

According to personnel records, Wilson knocked a cell phone out of his wife’s hand during an argument and shoved her. He could be heard yelling in the background of a 911 call his wife made.

One year after his arrest, Wilson was suspended for 32 days without pay as a result.

Dispatch log shows scope of response to beating

A detailed log of the dispatch calls the night Nichols was beaten showed that there were as many as 11 MPD units assigned to the scene.

On Jan. 8 last year, a day after Nichols was beaten, multiple emails were sent to MPD brass relieving multiple officers of duty while the internal investigation was pending. Those officers were Bean, Haley, Hemphill, Martin, Mills and Justin Smith. The following day, Williams was relieved of duty pending the investigation.

A list of officers who were assigned to MPD's Organized Crime Unit, which contained the now-disbanded SCORPION Unit, showed that none of the officers criminally charged in Nichols' death had been part of the OCU for more than eight months when Nichols was beaten.

EMTs questioned about response, treatment of Nichols

Included in the documents released Wednesday were multiple termination letters for Memphis Fire Department personnel. Pvt. JaMichael Sandridge's termination letter included quotes from his hearing about the administrative investigation done regarding his actions on Jan. 7.

During his hearing, Sandridge was asked how he was not in violation of department policies by not determining the nature and extent of Nichols' injuries and not responding with basic first-aid treatment.

"From what we gathered on scene, there was nothing I could have done that would have prevented that patient’s death," Sandridge said during his hearing.

Sandridge was terminated the same day as his hearing.

Pvt. Robert Long was also asked why he abandoned Nichols while on duty. Long responded by claiming he only left to get patient information and did not "know what the (advanced emergency medical technician) was doing" when he walked off. Long also said he asked MPD officers to remove the handcuffs from Nichols but officers refused because Nichols previously ran away. The only patient information Long could get from officers was that Nichols ran.

Long's hearing began at 9:30 a.m. and he was terminated from the department at noon, per the letter.

More: Tyre Nichols footage: 6 quotes that expand what we know about his beating, death

Emails show internal conversations, public reaction

One file shows a series of emails between city officials, MPD officials, attorneys and the public. It also shows officials coordinating how to preserve evidence from the night of the beating. On Jan. 24 last year, a paralegal with Antonio Romanucci's law firm, an attorney representing Wells in a federal civil case, sent former City of Memphis Chief Legal Officer Jennifer Sink a letter to preserve evidence.

Sink then emailed MPD Assistant Chief Don Crowe to coordinate preserving evidence.

There are also two emails that the internal investigators received. One said MPD could be described as "murderers and punks." The other email criticized the department and questioned its culture.

"Protect and serve has become beat and kill," the email read. "Five on one, really thug cops, the young man is dead forever, the mother and father are without their son, who’s next my son? [sic] Better stay out of Memphis will spend tourist money elsewhere."

What we already knew about Tyre Nichols' death

Nichols was pulled over in the evening hours of Jan. 7, 2023, by officers from the Memphis Police Department. Those officers were part of the since-disbanded SCORPION Unit, which was billed as a violent-crime fighting unit.

It is still unclear why Nichols was originally pulled over, with the original police narrative stating he was driving recklessly. MPD Chief Cerelyn "C.J." Davis later said there was no evidence Nichols was driving recklessly.

In the most recent footage release at the end of January, Hemphill could be seen and heard talking about potential charges with another officer. Hemphill, who was fired but was not criminally charged in Nichols' death, speculated with officers that Nichols could be charged with resisting arrest, fleeing on foot, speeding and improper lane change.

More: As some Memphis officers joked about Tyre Nichols beating, others criticized special unit

After he was pulled over, officers could be seen yelling at Nichols, and eventually pulling him from the car and taken to the ground. While being held on the ground by multiple officers, Hemphill pulled his Taser and pointed it at Nichols' back.

After being pepper sprayed while on the ground, Nichols appeared to jump up and began to run away. Hemphill fired his Taser at Nichols, but it is not clear whether or not Nichols was hit.

In later-released body camera footage, Hemphill said that Nichols was "politely resisting" other officers.

Less than 100 yards away from his mother's house, Nichols was tackled by additional officers who saw him run by. Over the following minutes, Nichols can be seen in the publicly-released video getting punched, kicked, pepper sprayed and hit with a baton repeatedly until he falls to the ground and the officers try to sit him up against an unmarked squad cruiser in the street.

Nichols was eventually taken to St. Francis Hospital in critical condition and died three days later. His cause of death was listed in an autopsy report as blunt force trauma to the head and the manner of death listed as homicide.

What happened after Tyre Nichols died?

Eight officers have either been fired or resigned in the wake of Nichols' death. Bean, Haley, Martin, Mills and Justin Smith were the first five to be fired. All five of those former officers have since been criminally charged at the state and federal levels.

Hemphill was also fired, and former Dewayne Smith resigned before his administrative hearing. The outcome of that hearing, according to records obtained by The Commercial Appeal, would have been termination.

An eighth officer, who was previously unknown, was also fired. He was later identified as Adrian Blakes in Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission records after MPD filed to have him decertified as an officer in Tennessee.

In November, Mills pleaded guilty to use of excessive force and conspiracy to witness tamper in federal court. He pleaded guilty in state court that same day, but it is not yet clear what charges he will be assigned. He has not yet been sentenced.

Personnel files previously obtained through a public records request, and reviewed by The CA, showed that four of the five criminally charged officers had been reprimanded before Nichols was beaten, and faced little-to-no consequences as they made forceful arrests with no documentation and drove recklessly to scenes. In at least two cases, officers were praised, and their actions were described by MPD colleagues as one-off events for a good employee. It is unclear if the department required records to prove those assertions.

More: What to expect with DOJ's investigation into Memphis police: Taking a look at other cities

One summary from a hearing about a domestic violence call that went undocumented credited the police officer under review for being a "top producer."

Of the officers who have been criminally charged, only Bean had no prior reprimands.

Hemphill had received prior reprimands as had Dewayne Smith, who oversaw the SCORPION Unit team that Hemphill and the five criminally charged officers were part of. Smith also had a case he investigated dismissed after a federal judge found he illegally searched a man's car.

The U.S. Department of Justice has launched a pattern or practice investigation in the wake of Nichols' death. The investigation will focus on MPD's use of excessive force, how the department conducts stops and searches, and whether MPD engages in discriminatory policing against Black residents.

Lucas Finton is a criminal justice reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Lucas.Finton@commercialappeal.com, or (901)208-3922, and followed on X, formerly known as Twitter, @LucasFinton.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: More documents related to Tyre Nichols case released by City of Memphis