3 Former Officers Acquitted of Most Serious Charge in Tyre Nichols’s Death
The New York Times
The former officers were found guilty of witness tampering but not of the charge that would have held them responsible for causing his death.
Three former Memphis police officers were found guilty on Thursday of federal witness tampering charges in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man. But all three defendants were acquitted of the more serious charge of violating his civil rights by causing his death.
One officer, Demetrius Haley, was convicted on a lesser charge of violating Mr. Nichols’s civil rights by causing bodily injury.
The three defendants — Mr. Haley, Tadarrius Bean and Justin Smith — and two other former officers who pleaded guilty to their role in the violence, still face additional state charges, including second-degree murder.
The mixed verdict in the federal trial in Memphis comes nearly two years after Mr. Nichols’s death, which sickened many across the nation, who viewed it as the latest example of a young Black man being subjected to excessive force at the hands of the police.
Video of the January 2023 encounter showed that after Mr. Nichols fled a traffic stop, officers viciously punched and kicked him, ignoring his cries for his mother and his attempts to comply with a barrage of conflicting commands. None of the officers reported the extent of the beating.
Sentencing on the federal convictions is expected to occur in January, with the witness tampering charge carrying a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. The most serious charge could have led to a life sentence.
