Four former MPD officers charged in Tyre Nichols case appear in court
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Four of the five former Memphis police officers accused in the January beating death of Tyre Nichols appeared in federal court Tuesday.
► Tyre Nichols and Memphis Police: What we Know
Tadarius Bean, Justin Smith, Emmitt Martin, Demetrius Haley and their lawyers appeared before a judge Tuesday to discuss where things currently stand and where we go from here.
The whole thing only lasted about 30 minutes, but several important dates were set to keep things moving ahead of the expected May trial.
Trial date set for 4 former Memphis officers charged in Nichols case
Cameras weren’t allowed inside the building, but we saw defendants Emmitt Martin and Tadarius Bean walking inside before the 2 p.m. report time.
Details of the case weren’t discussed, but we did learn counsel received up to 300 hours of audio and visuals from the night that led to Nichols’ death in January.
Judge orders release of records in Tyre Nichols death investigation
The defense attorneys requested to extend the deadline for pretrial motions to January 8 so they have time to go through that new evidence. Attorney Bill Massey, who is representing Emmitt Martin, said this was crucial for the defense.
“We have to know what the government’s proof is in order to know what pretrial motions we need to file, part of it anyway. And so it was important to be able to go through as much of the discovery as possible before having to file the pretrial motions,” Massey said.
We also learned there will be a hearing on December 4 to discuss whether character evidence will be admissible in court.
The next report date, which will be similar to Tuesday’s meeting, is scheduled for December 19.
This story will be updated.
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