MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The former police officers charged in the January 2023 beating death of Tyre Nichols “stood by his dying body and laughed,” a federal prosecutor said Wednesday in opening statements.
“We’re going to ask you to watch Tyre Nicols being beaten to death,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Rogers said as the jury looked on. “The beating was captured from multiple angles and clarity. Five officers took turns punching, kicking and batoning him until he died.”
When it was over, Rogers said, “They silently agreed to lie about it to cover it up.”
It was a jarring opening to the much-awaited federal trial of three former Memphis police officers charged in the death of Nichols, whose brutal beating was caught on police cameras and whose death three days later reignited calls for police reform in the U.S.
“You won’t see Tyre pose a threat, throw a punch or make or kick,” the prosecutor said. “You won’t see any of the defendants raise a finger to spare Tyre Nichols.”
In fact, Rogers said, “officers took off their body-worn cameras to join in the beating. They laughed about the big punches Nichols took and how long it took him to fall.”
Defense attorney John Keith Perry Jr., who represents former officer Tadarrius Bean, said the police were simply trying to subdue an uncooperative suspect.
“He was hit a total of four times,” Perry said of Nichols. “He’s kicked three times to the body. These are accepted when a person is failing to follow instructions.”
The trial is expected to last three to four weeks.
“Our hope is that they’re found guilty and to show the world that my son was a good person and he wasn’t the criminal that they’re trying to make him out to be,” Nichols’ mother, RowVaughn Wells, said during a recess.
On Tuesday, prosecutors and defense lawyers agreed on the 12 jurors and four alternates. Prospective jurors answered questions from U.S. District Judge Mark Norris about whether they could be fair and impartial given the heavy pretrial media coverage and whether watching video of the beating would be a problem for them if chosen.
Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith have pleaded not guilty to charges that they deprived the 29-year-old Nichols of his rights through excessive force and failure to intervene, and obstructed justice through witness tampering.
Two other officers, Emmitt Martin III and Desmond Mills Jr., have already pleaded guilty to the federal charges and could testify against their former colleagues.
Nichols, who was Black, died in a hospital on Jan. 10, 2023, three days after he was kicked, punched and hit with a police baton following a traffic stop.
Police video released that month showed the five officers, who are also Black, beating Nichols as he yelled for his mother about a block from his home. Video also showed the officers milling about and talking with one another as Nichols sat on the ground, struggling with his injuries.
Nichols, police said, was pulled over for reckless driving, but Memphis’ police chief has said there is no evidence to substantiate that.
An autopsy report showed Nichols died from blows to the head and that the manner of death was homicide. The report described brain injuries and cuts and bruises to the head and other areas.
Nichols worked for FedEx, and he enjoyed skateboarding and photography.
The three officers now facing trial, along with Martin and Mills, were fired for violating Memphis Police Department policies. They had been members of a crime suppression team called the Scorpion Unit, which was disbanded after Nichols’ death.
Shortly after their dismissal, the five were charged with second-degree murder in state court, where they pleaded not guilty. They were then indicted by a federal grand jury in September 2023.
Mills and Martin are expected to plead guilty to the state charges as well. A trial date in state court has not been set.
On Monday, the judge read a list of potential witnesses that includes Martin, Mills and two other former officers. Preston Hemphill fired his stun gun at the traffic stop scene but didn’t follow Nichols to where other officers pummeled him. Hemphill was fired. Dewayne Smith was the supervising lieutenant who arrived on scene after the beating. He retired instead of being fired.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee on Tuesday told reporters that Nichols’ death “never should have happened,” but that “steps have been made to improve on the circumstances in the city of Memphis and in the Memphis Police Department.”
“That family will always be forever changed because of that loss,” Lee said when asked directly about the trial. “And we talk a lot about redemption. And what we have to hope is that the redemption that comes with justice will be executed here in this case.”
Earlier this year, Lee and other Republican lawmakers clashed with Nichols’ mother and stepfather as the state repealed Memphis police reforms implemented after their son’s death. One of the voided city ordinances had outlawed so-called pretextual traffic stops, such as for a broken taillight and other minor violations.
Deon J. Hampton reported from Memphis and Corky Siemaszko from New York City.
