MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Moments after a federal judge read the partial convictions in the federal trial of three former Memphis officers in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, an activist outside the courtroom could not contain his shock.
“What the (expletive)?” Hunter Demster exclaimed to a reporter.
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Demster, like many others, had watched the police video of five officers punching, kicking and hitting Nichols with a baton. But it wasn't enough for a jury to convict Tadarrius Bean and Justin Smith of the two most serious charges they faced: violating Nichols' civil rights by using excessive force and by showing “deliberate indifference” to his serious medical needs.
“My heart sank when they read the not guilty verdicts,” Demster said Friday. “I do not feel like justice was served for Tyre.”
Nichols, who was Black, had run from a traffic stop despite being hit with pepper spray and a Taser. In all, five officers, all of them Black, were fired, then indicted, in the January 2023 beating death that sparked national protests and calls for broad changes in policing. Two of them, Desmond Mills and Emmitt Martin, pleaded guilty before the trial and testified for prosecutors.
After officers caught up to Nichols, body cameras and a security camera captured officers pummeling Nichols in a struggle just steps from his home, as he cried out for his mother. Nichols' family, activists and others had hoped that Bean, Smith and Demetrius Haley would be convicted of the civil rights violations that carried a sentence a up to life in prison.
After a nearly monthlong trial, only Haley was convicted of the two civil rights violations, and even then, only on lesser charges of causing bodily harm, not Nichols' death. He also was found guilty of two other charges related to conspiracy to witness tamper and obstruction of justice related to witness tampering. The civil rights charge against Haley carries up to 10 years in prison.
Bean and Smith, however, were only convicted of obstruction of justice related to witness tampering, stemming from failure to report the amount of force they used. Bean, Haley and Smith face up to 20 years in prison for that charge. Sentencing is set for January.
“This is a very high burden that this government had in order to prove 12 counts against all of these individuals, and they proved more than half of them," said Antonio Romanucci, who represents Nichols' mother, RowVaughn Wells, in a lawsuit against the city, the police chief and the officers.
Though Nichols' relatives said they were pleased with any convictions, some observers were perplexed by the jury's decision, especially after it repeatedly watched the video.
“The jury came back with a verdict that doesn’t seem to match the evidence that we all watched in court,” said Adanté Pointer, a civil rights lawyer based in Oakland, California.
U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, a Memphis Democrat, said in a statement Friday that he was “surprised" by the acquittals.
The video shows the officers milling about, talking and laughing as Nichols struggles with his injuries. An autopsy report shows he died from blows to the head. The report describes brain injuries, and cuts and bruises on his head and other areas.
In closing arguments, prosecutor Kathryn Gilbert said the officers used “an unbelievable amount of force.”
Defense attorneys portrayed Martin as a principal aggressor. Martin testified Nichols was not a threat, yet he acknowledged punching and kicking Nichols in the head. Martin told jurors that he was angry and “seeing red” after being injured on the job more than a month earlier and spending time away from work. The lawyers questioned why Martin was even on the street that night.
“When you’re looking for a way to excuse away or explain away that conduct, you make someone else a boogeyman," Pointer said. “That’s what you call an 'empty chair defense.’ He wasn’t on trial, but yet they put him on trial.”
Bean jumped out of his police car and chased down Nichols after he fled the traffic stop. As Mills approached, Bean and Smith could be seen on video wrestling with Nichols and holding his arms, while also hitting him. An FBI agent said Smith told him he punched Nichols three times in the head, but defense lawyers argued Bean and Smith were merely slapping Nichols’ hands away as they tried to handcuff him.
Use-of-force experts testified for the defense that Bean and Smith complied with department policies and national policing standards. Nichols failed to comply with verbal commands such as “give me your hands,” defense attorneys said.
During jury instructions, U.S. District Judge Mark Norris said prosecutors needed to prove only one of the following factors: That the defendants personally used excessive force, that they failed to intervene, or that they aided and abetted each other in using too much force.
Jurors often are hesitant to convict police in on-duty shooting deaths, said Philip Stinson, a Bowling Green State University criminal justice professor. When officers have been convicted, it’s often for a lesser offense, he said.
“It’s just that jurors are very reluctant to second-guess police officers,” Stinson said. “Even when the video evidence seems to be overwhelming, it’s still not an easy burden that the prosecutor has to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.”
The five officers also have been charged with second-degree murder in state court, where they pleaded not guilty. Mills and Martin are expected to change their pleas. A trial date has not been set.
Pastor Earle Fisher, a Memphis activist who has long called for investigations of the city’s police, said it is hard for him to appreciate "people being convicted of certain aspects of what went into the murder of Tyre, and not other aspects.”
“I think this does show the chinks in the armor of our justice system and the inconsistency in the way in which the law is applied,” Fisher said.
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Matisse reported from Nashville, Tennessee. Travis Loller also contributed from Nashville.