Jury at officers' trial in fatal beating of Terry Nichols hears instructions ahead of closings

A jury received instructions from a judge Wednesday about how to deliberate and issue a unanimous verdict in the federal trial of three former Memphis police officers charged with violating Tyre Nichols’ civil rights in a fatal beating that followed a 2023 traffic stop.

U.S. District Judge Mark Norris read the lengthy instructions ahead of closing arguments expected later in the day. Norris spent Tuesday hearing arguments from lawyers about what the instructions would entail.

To find Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley or Justin Smith guilty of using too much force, Norris said jurors would need to find that the officers acted as law enforcement officers, violated Nichols’ right to be free from the use of excessive force and “deliberate indifference” to his injuries, and that he suffered bodily injury or death.

The jury also must consider whether the officers were using their “split second judgment” about the force needed to put handcuffs on Nichols after he ran from police.

Police video shows five officers, who are all Black, punched, kicked and hit Nichols, who was also Black, about a block from his home, as he called out for his mother. Two of the officers, Desmond Mills and Emmitt Martin. pleaded guilty and testified for prosecutors.

Also Wednesday, supporters came to walk with Nichols' family into the courthouse. They stood in a circle for a prayer from Tennessee state Rep. Justin Pearson while holding hands. They ended the prayer with a chant of “Justice for Tyre.”

Tennessee state Rep. G.A. Hardaway told reporters that the federal trial was just the beginning with a state trial pending and the Department of Justice investigating the Memphis Police Department.

Attorneys for Bean, Haley and Smith rested their cases after each had called experts to try to combat prosecutors’ arguments that the officers used excessive force against Nichols, didn’t intervene, and failed to tell their supervisors and medical personnel about the extent of the beating.

Nichols died Jan. 10, 2023, three days after the beating. An autopsy report shows Nichols — the father of a boy who is now 7 — died from blows to the head. The report describes brain injuries, and 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. Prosecutors argued that the officers beat Nichols because he ran, saying it was part of a common police practice referred to in officer slang as the “street tax” or “run tax. ”

The five officers were part of the the Scorpion Unit, which looked for drugs, illegal guns 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 obstructing justice through witness tampering. They face up to life in prison if convicted.

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

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