A jury handed down a mixed verdict on Thursday for three former Memphis Police officers who were involved in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols in 2023. Two of the three officers were acquitted on civil rights charges stemming from Nichols death, but all three were convicted on charges of witness tampering.
Tadarrius Bean, Justin Smith and Demetrius Haley were all members of Memphis’ since-disbanded SCORPION unit. They were part of a group of five officers who beat Nichols following a traffic stop in Jan. 2023. Nichols died of his injuries several days later. All five former officers involved face state charges of second-degree murder, though two officers not in court on Thursday have agreed to plead guilty.
When footage of the officers beating Nichols was released, it caused shock and led to widespread protests. Georgia State Law professor Anthony Michael Kreis said the bodycam footage showed “a depraved indifference toward human life” and said the beating was “nothing short of an extra-judicial execution.”
In the ruling on Thursday, Bean and Smith were acquitted on federal charges of violating Nichols’ civil rights causing death. Haley was convicted of a lesser charge of violating civil rights causing injury. Haley famously sent a photo of Nichols after the beating to several people.
Bean, Smith and Haley face up to 20 years in prison on their federal witness tampering charges. A date has not been set for their state murder cases.
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