Officers in Tyre Nichols case have court hearing

Shay Simon
·2 min read
3

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The ex-police officers in the Tyre Nichols criminal case are making a court appearance Friday afternoon.

You can watch the hearing live in this story at 1 p.m. Friday.

The judge says all five former officers will report back on Nov. 6 to set trial date. Demetrius Haley and Emmitt Martin have left.

Tadarrius Bean, Desmond Mills and Justin Smith are still in court. Their defense is arguing why they should have separate trials.

The decision should be made today.

Lawyers for the defendants have asked for separate trials on the state charges, which include second-degree murder.

They also face federal charges in the case, and appeared this week in federal court on those charges after they were indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of deprivation of rights under the color of law through excessive force and failure to intervene, and through deliberate indifference; conspiracy to witness tampering; and obstruction of justice through witness tampering. Bean, Haley, Mills and Smith entered not guilty pleas Wednesday.

Additionally, the officers are individually named, along with the city of Memphis and the Memphis Police Department in a separate civil lawsuit filed by Nichols’ mother. A hearing was held in that suit Friday morning on a motion for a stay of the civil proceedings until after the conclusion of the criminal trial. No decision was made.

Nichols was stopped by police on Jan. 7 for an alleged traffic violation and was pulled out of his car by officers who used profanity, with at least one brandishing a gun. An officer hit Nichols with a stun gun, but Nichols ran away toward his nearby home, according to video footage released Jan. 27 by the city.

The officers, part of a crime-suppression team known as Scorpion, caught up with Nichols and punched him, kicked him and slugged him with a baton as he yelled for his mother.

After the beating, officers stood by and talked with one another as Nichols struggled with his injuries on the ground, video showed. One officer took photos of Nichols as he was propped up against an unmarked police car, video and records showed.

Nichols, 29, died in a hospital on Jan 10. He was Black, as are the five officers.

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