MEMPHIS, Tennessee — Jury selection was set to begin Monday in the federal trial of three former Memphis police officers accused of violating the civil rights of Band Nicholsthe 29-year-old man whose fatal beating was captured on police body cameras and also sparked protests and calls for police reform.
Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith have pleaded not guilty to charges of depriving Nichols of his rights by excessive force and failure to comply and obstructing justice by coercing witnesses.
Nichols was pulled over in his car in January 2023 and ran from police after being pulled from the vehicle. Officers grabbed Nichols and beat him in a Memphis neighborhood, police video showed.
Jurors will be selected from a pool of about 200 people. The trial is expected to last three to four weeks and draw media from around the country. Nichols’ family is expected to attend the trial.
Nichols, who was Black, died in a hospital on Jan. 10, 2023, three days after he was kicked, punched and beaten with a police baton. Police video released later that month showed five officers, who are also Black, beating Nichols as he screamed for his mother a block from his home. Video footage also showed the officers standing around and talking to each other as Nichols sat on the ground, struggling with his injuries.
Officers said Nichols was pulled over for reckless driving, but the Memphis police chief said there was no evidence to support that claim.
Nichols worked for FedEx and enjoyed skateboarding and photography.
An autopsy report found that Nichols had died from blows to the head and that the cause of death was homicide. The report described brain injuries and cuts and bruises to the head and other areas.
The three officers now on trial, along with Emmitt Martin III and Desmond Mills Jr., were fired after Nichols’ death for violating Memphis Police Department policy. They were members of a crime-fighting team called the Scorpion Unit, which was disbanded after Nichols’ death.
Shortly after their dismissal, the five officers were charged with second-degree murder in state court, where they pleaded not guilty. They were then indicted by a federal grand jury from September 2023.
Mills and Martin have both pleaded guilty in federal court and could testify at the trial. A date for the state court trial has not yet been set.