Police delivered a ‘beatdown’ that killed Tyre Nichols, prosecutor says in trial closing

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis police officers who hit Band Nichols wanted to punish him to death after he ran from a traffic stop in 2023 and thought they could get away with it, a prosecutor said Wednesday as closing arguments began in the federal trial of three of the officers.

“They wanted it to be a beating,” prosecutor Kathryn Gilbert told jurors in the federal trial of Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith, who are accused of violating Nichols’ civil rights and trying to cover up. the beating. “That’s it.”

Prosecutors have argued that the assault was part of a common police practice known in officer jargon as “the” ‘street tax’ or ‘run tax’. ”

Gilbert noticed that Emmit Martinone of the two officers who took a plea deal testified that Nichols posed no threat when police beat him. She showed the jury a photo of a smiling Nichols wearing a vest, tie, white shirt with sleeves rolled up to the elbows and his hands in his pockets.

She said the officers laughed and bragged about hitting Nichols, then lied about it to their supervisor and medical staff to protect themselves.

“They chose their own comfort and convenience over Mr. Nichols’ life,” she said.

Haley’s attorney, Stephen Leffler, said his client kicked Nichols in the arm only once to help get him handcuffed. He also blamed Martin for falsely suggesting that Nichols tried to grab Martin’s gun during the traffic stop.

“It affected him to his detriment, and to the detriment of Tire Nichols,” Leffler said.

An attorney for Bean, John Keith Perry, told jurors that Nichols ignored commands such as “give me your hands” and said his client, the youngest of the officers, followed department policy. Perry said Bean didn’t know if Nichols had a gun, but still ran after him and tackled him.

“The force was not excessive,” Perry said. “It just wasn’t.”

Bean punched Nichols in the hands only to try to grab his hands and handcuff him, Perry said, despite testimony from an FBI agent who testified that Bean told him he had punched Nichols in the head. Perry noted that the officer’s interview with Bean was not recorded and he questioned the veracity of his statements.

None of the officers on trial testified in their defense. They all called on experts to try to counter prosecutors’ arguments that the officers used excessive force against Nichols, failed to intervene and failed to inform their supervisors and medical staff of the extent of the assault.

Both Martin and the other former officer who pleaded guilty and testified for prosecutors, Desmond Millslied to investigators about what happened, said Perry, who warned the jury against playing a “game of changing words and semantics.”

Police video shows five officers, all of whom are black, punching, kicking and punching Nichols, who was also black, about a block away from his home as he shouted for his mother.

“You saw the punches,” Gilbert said. ‘You saw the stairs. You saw the baton hit.’

Earlier Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Mark Norris read lengthy jury instructions.

Outside the courthouse, supporters of Nichols’ family stood in a circle for a prayer from Tennessee state Rep. Justin Pearson, holding hands. They concluded the prayer with the chant “Justice for Tyre.” Pearson sat next to Nichols’ mother, RowVaughn Wells, in court during closing arguments, placing his hand on her back and rubbing gently to comfort her.

Nichols died on January 10, 2023, three days after the assault. An autopsy report shows that Nichols – the father of a boy who is now seven – died from blows to the head. The report describes brain injuries, cuts and bruises on his head and elsewhere on his body.

The officers used pepper spray and a Taser on Nichols during the traffic stop, but the 29-year-old ran away. police video shows.

All five officers were fired. They were part of the Scorpion Unit, which searched for drugs, illegal weapons and violent offenders. It was disbanded after Nichols’ death.

Haley, Bean and Smith pleaded not guilty to federal charges of excessive force, failure to intervene and obstruction of justice by witness tampering. If convicted, they face life in prison.

The five officers have pleaded not guilty to separate charges of second-degree murder. A trial date in that case has not yet been set. Mills and Martin are expected to change their pleas.

___

Associated Press journalists Jonathan Mattise in Nashville and Kristin M. Hall in Memphis also contributed.