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Three Memphis Cops Guilty in Tyre Nichols Death, Tennessee 2024
A federal jury in Memphis, Tennessee, has found three former Memphis Police Department officers guilty of federal felonies related to the death of Tyre Nichols on Jan. 7, 2023. Former MPD Officer Demetrius Haley was found to have deprived Nichols of his constitutional right to be free from an officer’s unreasonable force when he, and two other former MPD officers, Emmitt Martin III and Desmond Mills Jr., unlawfully assaulted Nichols and willfully failed to intervene to stop his co-defendants from using unreasonable force. The jury found that Haley’s conduct resulted in bodily injury to Nichols.
The jury also found that Haley deprived Nichols of his constitutional right to be free from a police officer’s deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs resulting in bodily injury to Nichols. Defendants Emmitt Martin and Desmond Mills, Jr. previously pleaded guilty of using unreasonable force against Nichols, resulting in his death. The jury also convicted Haley of conspiring to commit witness tampering.
The jury also convicted Haley and former MPD officers Tadarrius Bean and Justin Smith for their effort to cover up the use of excessive force against Nichols by omitting material information and providing misleading and false statements to their MPD supervising lieutenant and an MPD detective who was tasked with writing the report documenting this incident.
Evidence presented at the trial established that, on Jan. 7, 2023, defendant Haley assaulted Nichols after a traffic stop. Martin initiated the traffic stop, and Haley and another MPD officer subsequently arrived at the stop. When Nichols was on the ground, Haley pepper-sprayed Nichols and another officer tried to tase him, at which point Nichols fled the area.
Bean and Mills responded to the location where dispatch reported that Nichols had run and saw Nichols walking down the street. Nichols ran from the officers, and Bean ran after him and tackled him to the ground. When Martin arrived at the scene he immediately kicked Nichols in the head at least twice. As officers held Nichols on the ground, Mills pepper sprayed Nichols, expanded his baton and repeatedly used the baton to strike Nichols. Martin then repeatedly punched Nichols in the head and chest. Nichols went back to the ground, and, as two officers held him, he became unresponsive.
“All three former Memphis Police Department officers were convicted of federal felonies for their role in Tyre Nichols’ death,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “They join two additional former officers who had already pled guilty. With these convictions, all five of the former officers involved in the death of Mr. Nichols have been convicted of federal felonies. Tyre Nichols should be alive today. We extend our condolences to the family and loved ones of Mr. Nichols. We hope this prosecution provides some measure of comfort as the law enforcement officers tied to his death have been held accountable. We thank the trial team for their extraordinary dedication to prosecuting this case, and we thank the jury for their service. We will never rest in our ongoing efforts to ensure that law enforcement officers are held accountable for violating people’s civil and constitutional rights.”
“A basic principle for our system of justice is that there is — and there only can be — one rule of law,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Reagan Fondren for the Western District of Tennessee. “Law enforcement officers must be held to the same rules as the citizens they’re sworn to protect. More than a year ago, this office made a commitment to following the truth where it led in this case. Thanks to our trial team who worked tirelessly over the past 21 months to ensure that this case was properly investigated and tried and to the men and women in the jury for their service. The defendants have been found guilty of serious federal felonies and face significant penalties for those actions.”
Key Facts
- State: Tennessee
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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