Five officers accused in Tyre Nichols case appear in court
(From left to right): Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith are the Memphis Police officers terminated in connection with the death of Tyre Nichols. (Courtesy MPD)
The five officers accused in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols appeared in Shelby County Criminal Court Division 3 on Friday.
Nichols, 29, died Jan. 10, three days after being beaten allegedly by five Memphis Police Department officers who were members of the SCORPION unit.
Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith were indicted Jan. 26 on charges related to their alleged roles in the beating.
During the proceeding, prosecutor Paul Hagerman said the state is continuing to gather discovery.
Hagerman also told Judge James Jones the state has indexed all material related to a motion to intervene filed by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, of which The Daily Memphian is a member.
The motion pertains to the release of more video evidence, as well as the previous personnel records of Demetrius Haley, one of the former Memphis Police Department officers charged with second-degree murder in the death of Nichols.
The release of additional audio, reports and personnel files of up to 17 current and former City of Memphis employees related to the investigation is also being requested.
The state has also filed its opinion on what is releasable. During a May 19 hearing, officials from the Shelby County District Attorney’s office said it wanted the release of all videos and documents, aside from material containing or related to Garrity statements, which are only applicable within internal investigations against government employees.
All parties have filed responses, and Jones will now review the material.
The case was reset to Aug. 18. The defendants may only appear if all discovery has been reviewed.
On Wednesday, June 21, two of the defendants, Justin Smith and Tadarrius Bean, filed motions to be tried separately.
Those motions likely won’t be heard until closer to the trial date, Hagerman said.
“It’s common for defense attorneys to go ahead and file motions even at this stage of the case when ... a trial hasn’t been set,” Hagerman said.
Defense attorney Blake Ballin, who represents Mills, said his client is considering filing a motion to sever, meaning he could also be tried separately.
“There are strategic advantages to having something like this tried all at once,” Ballin said. “There are potential advantages to having them separated. But at the end of the day, I need to do some legal research to see if ... there’s a legal reason for that.”
Topics
Tyre Nichols Shelby County Criminal Court Division 3 Judge James Jones Shelby County District Attorney's officeJulia Baker
A lifelong Memphian, Julia Baker graduated from the University of Memphis in 2021. Other publications and organizations she has written for include Chalkbeat, Memphis Flyer, Memphis Parent magazine and Memphis magazine.
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