Defense attorneys for two of the three former Memphis police officers on trial for federal charges related to the death of Tyre Nichols have rested their case.

John Keith Perry, who represents Tadarrius Bean, and Michael Stengel, who represents Demetrius Haley, rested their cases Monday morning, Sept. 30.

Justin Smith, represented by Martin Zummach, is now the sole defendant still calling witnesses in his defense.

Third defendant in Tyre Nichols trial files motion for acquittal

After Perry and Stengel rested, Zummach called Jared Zwickey, a veteran California police officer and use-of-force expert, to the stand.

A friend and former fellow officer testified on Tadarrius Bean’s character Friday, calling him a “true servant leader” who is “always putting the benefit of others before himself” and is “kind-hearted.”

Bryant McKinney met Bean in the police academy four years ago, but he now works as a security supervisor for DHL.

“He’s always shown a character of humility, and that’s always stuck with me,” McKinney said. “Because no matter how good he did at something, he always was humble about the situation.”

He also testified that Bean went “by the book,” giving an example of Bean refusing to use his take-home squad car for personal errands, because it was against policy. 

Attorney John Keith Perry, counsel for Tadarrius Bean, called a use-of-force witness to the stand Friday, Sept. 27, in the trial against three former police officers accused in Tyre Nichols’ death.

John Tisdale, a retired police chief from the Gallatin Police Department and Parker Arizona Police Department, testified that Bean went through the appropriate use-of-force continuum the night of Nichols’ fatal beating. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation investigated Tisdale in 2010 for misusing a criminal database to conduct a background check for a civil case in which he testified as an expert witness.

A use-of-force continuum is a sliding scale that guides officers in the appropriate use of force. It begins with police presence and commands and ends in deadly force. 

Third defendant in Tyre Nichols trial files motion for acquittal

According to testimony from Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Anthony Householder Thursday, Bean told Householder that former MPD officer Desmond Mills hit him with pepper spray sometime during the traffic stop. 

Federal judge Mark S. Norris is now taking under advisement motions for acquittal from the three defendants on trial for the death of Tyre Nichols.

Demetrius Haley moved for acquittal Thursday, joining Justin Smith and Tadarrius Bean who filed their motions for acquittal earlier in the afternoon.

Filing for acquittal is standard practice after the prosecution rests its case. 

One of Haley’s attorneys, Michael Stengel, argued that Haley arrived at the scene last and didn’t know Nichols had already been punched or kicked. 

The prosecution in the federal trial against three officers charged in the death of Tyre Nichols rested its case after hearing testimony from its 19th and final witness, a former emergency room nurse at Saint Francis Hospital-Memphis. 

Taylor Chesser, who is now a floating nurse who works at various local hospitals, testified Thursday that the two officers who went with Nichols to the hospital told her they weren’t at the scene of the beating when she asked what happened.

FBI agent reveals details from federal investigation into Nichols’ death

At least one of the officers also had a “nervous demeanor,” she testified, adding that she relied on officers for information on the “mechanism of the injury” to determine care for Nichols.

Prior testimony from Desmond Mills and Lt. Dewayne Smith has indicated Mills and Tadarrius Bean, one of the officers on trial, were at the hospital. Chesser could not identify the officers. 

Testimony on Thursday, Sept. 26, from a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent revealed text messages sent by Demetrius Haley, one of the former Memphis Police Department officers on federal trial for charges related to Tyre Nichols’ death. 

About an hour after Nichols’ beating, Haley sent messages to Tadarrius Bean, one of the other officers on trial, asking if he had viewed his body-worn camera footage yet. Bean told Haley that his body-worn camera fell off after one minute and lay flat on the ground, to which Haley responded, “OK, bet. And I wasn’t over there when you got dude.” 

Quinton Fox, another MPD officer, texted Haley asking, “Who beat dude up last night?” to which Haley said, “Us.” 

Anthony Householder, the FBI agent who was formerly stationed in Memphis, also revealed statements provided by Bean and Justin Smith, the third man on trial.

Day 2 of testimony from Desmond Mills Jr. wrapped up with him testifying he learned of SkyCop footage while filing reports on the traffic stop when his supervisor, Lt. Dewayne Smith, told him about it.

Mills, who has pleaded guilty to Tyre Nichols’ death, asked Smith “how it looked.”

“‘The radio sounds better than how the camera looks,’” Mills recalled Lt. Smith saying.

Desmond Mills confesses to going along with ‘cover-up’

Mills’ statements came during cross-examination from Michael Stengel, who represents Demetrius Haley. 

Desmond Mills Jr. hid facts about his and other officers’ beating of Tyre Nichols during a Jan. 11, 2023, interview with the Memphis Police Department’s Inspectional Services Bureau because he “had a lot at stake,” he said.

The former Memphis Police Department officer, who has pleaded guilty in Nichols’ death, continued his testimony during the trial of three of his former coworkers.

“I needed this job for my family, my wife and my kids,” Mills said on the witness stand, adding he needed the insurance and his kids had special needs. “I was thinking of them first. I let them down.”

Desmond Mills weeps on witness stand: ‘Sorry can’t bring him back’

He said he was afraid of telling the truth because, “I’d be sitting in the exact seat I’m sitting in now.” 

Desmond Mills Jr. sobbed on the witness stand Tuesday as he recounted Tyre Nichols’ beating. U.S. District Court Judge Mark S. Norris, who’s presiding over the federal trial against three former police officers charged in Nichols’ death, began to approach Mills as a guard handed him a box of tissues. 

“I wish I could have stopped the punches,” Mills said. “It hurt to watch. … It hurt inside so much. I felt bad every time his picture’s on the screen and to know I’m a part of that.

“I made his child fatherless. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Sorry can’t bring him back, but I pray his child has everything he needs growing up.”

Desmond Mills begins testimony: ‘I just started spraying’

Mills drank a sip from a bottle of water before continuing his testimony. 

Desmond Mills Jr., one of the cops who previously pleaded guilty in the death of Tyre Nichols, began his testimony Tuesday, Sept. 24, in the federal trial against the three former police officers.

Mills, who joined the Memphis Police Department’s SCORPION “Team Unit 1” during the COVID-19 pandemic, said by the time Tadarrius Bean, one of the former officers on trial, joined the team in 2022, he was ready to leave the department.

“I didn’t like the hostility on the team,” Mills said.

Two additional witnesses testify Demetrius Haley sent them photos of Tyre Nichols

He testified he did not like SCORPION’s structure and officers were inexperienced. It felt “off,” he said.

The officer who took the report from Nichols’ traffic stop said Demetrius Haley mistakenly sent her a photo of Nichols after the beating. Haley also sent the same photo of Nichols to a family friend, according to testimony on Monday.

Valandria McKinnie, an MPD officer who formerly was on SCORPION Unit Team 1, testified Monday Haley sent her a photo of Nichols after his beating after she asked for a photo of him. But she meant photo ID, she testified. 

When she corrected him and told him he sent the wrong photo, he sent her the ID, and she deleted the photo of Nichols. As she testified Monday, Nichols’ stepfather held his arm tightly around the victim’s mother, RowVaughn Wells. 

Former SCORPION officer, ER doctor, fire dispatcher continue testimony

“It wasn’t something I needed,” McKinnie said of her deleting the photo.

The Memphis Police Department supervisor who responded to the scene of Tyre Nichols’ beating testified Friday he was not aware of the physical violence involved following Nichols’ traffic stop. 

During his testimony Friday, the end of the trial’s second week, former Lt. Dewayne Smith told prosecutor Kathryn E. Gilbert that one of the former officers, Desmond Mills, told him they “did everything by the book.” 

Lt. Smith said he was told Nichols had been hit with a Taser and pepper-sprayed, that Nichols swung at officers and tried to take one of the officers’ guns. 

Former SCORPION officer, ER doctor, fire dispatcher continue testimony

Gilbert presented body-worn camera and SkyCop camera footage that showed, right before Lt. Smith arrived on the scene, officers bragging about giving Nichols “pieces,” or punches, and that Nichols was “eating them,” meaning he was taking hits.

After prosecutor Kathryn Gilbert passed Kyle Coudriet, a former SCORPION Unit officer, to the defense, he faced intense questioning over the arrest of Jesus Valles and another in which Demetrius Haley also struck the arrestee in the face as they were handcuffed.

Coudriet was also scrutinized about lies he admitted to telling FBI agents in interviews during investigation of the Tyre Nichols case.

During the arrest of Marcus Bills, Haley, like with Valles, struck him in the face as he was handcuffed. Bills had escaped handcuffs during an initial arrest attempt, was chased, tackled and rearrested. Haley struck him as officers were attempting to put him into a squad car after he was handcuffed.

Former SCORPION officer, ER doctor, fire dispatcher continue testimony

On response to resistance forms for both the Valles and Bills arrests, Haley wrote that the men were about to spit on him and he punched them to “redirect them.”

A former SCORPION Unit officer testified Thursday he had seen Demetrius Haley and Emmitt Martin III use excessive force against an arrestee prior to Tyre Nichols’ beating.

Kyle Coudriet left the Memphis Police Department a month before Nichols’ beating Jan. 7, 2023, and now works for the Wyoming Highway Patrol.

Coudriet described a previous arrest he was involved in with Haley and Martin. A man who had posted a photo of himself on social media pointing a gun at an officer was later apprehended. He had barricaded himself inside an apartment and Coudriet, Haley and Martin, along with others, entered the apartment to arrest the man who Coudriet identified as as Jesus Valles.

Paramedic had ‘eerie feeling’ on Tyre Nichols scene

Coudriet said he witnessed Haley and Martin strike the man with “closed fist strikes” to his head and upper chest, violating MPD policy.

A paramedic who responded to the scene after Tyre Nichols was beaten testified Wednesday that when he got to the scene and Nichols did not respond to initial life-saving measures, like a sternum rub and Narcan administration, he knew “something is really going on.” He said he had an “eerie feeling” about what had happened.

“I didn’t know what it was,” said Jesse Guy, a paramedic with the Memphis Fire Department. “A couple of the officers were huddled up talking amongst each other, and it made me question things. I just wanted to go on and get him off the scene.”

He also said his main goal was “trying to save his life.”

“It was to the point where I couldn’t solve the case, I was going to save his life,” Guy said. 

Demetrius Haley’s ex-girlfriend testified Wednesday he sent her a photo of Tyre Nichols after the Jan. 7, 2023, beatings.

“I said, ‘Oh my god, he needs to go to The Med,’” Brittany Leake, a police officer with the Memphis Police Department, said she texted back on the group message.

Prosecutors entered two pieces of evidence: the photo of Nichols and a text-message exchange.

Emmitt Martin details two ‘misses’ before Tyre Nichols beating

Leake said she deleted the photo “because I didn’t want to see it in the group chat.”

During testimony Wednesday, Emmitt Martin III said two “misses” earlier in the day, including an unsuccessful arrest based on a tip about a group of people possessing gun switches, added to his anger the night of Tyre Nichols’ beating on Jan. 7, 2023.

Although the group turned out not to possess switches, Martin said his daughter lived in the same apartment complex, and he was angry about the possibility of gun switches being near her. 

Additionally, Martin attempted an aggravated assault warrant arrest but the suspect wasn’t there.

Emmitt Martin III testifies he was warned about level of aggression

After pleading guilty to his federal charges, Martin testified that he told the FBI he was under pressure to stay on the SCORPION Unit’s 1 team, which he said was the unit’s top-tier team.

Emmitt Martin III and other SCORPION Unit officers had previously been warned about their “level of aggression” before Tyre Nichols’ death. 

After lunch Tuesday, prosecutor Kathryn E. Gilbert presented body-worn camera footage from a previous arrest in which another officer and Demetrius Haley brought the arrestee out of the apartment and Haley punched him while handcuffed. 

Martin testified that a lieutenant reviewed the footage with him to tell him to “turn your level of aggression off when it’s time to.”

“Because if you don’t, you’re going to cross a boundary which can lead to excessive use of force,” Martin said. 

Emmitt Martin III, one of the former Memphis Police Department officers who pleaded guilty to charges in Tyre Nichols’ death, continued his testimony Tuesday after testifying the day before he was “seeing red” the day the 29-year-old was beaten. 

During his Tuesday testimony in the trial against his three former colleagues, Martin said he kicked Nichols four times and punched him five times in the face. He admitted his and other officers’ behavior was “not consistent” with MPD policy because Nichols was “helpless” and “not a threat.” He gave his testimony as prosecutor Kathryn E. Gilbert played video footage from body-worn cameras and a SkyCop camera.

Martin also said he and other officers intentionally hid facts about what happened.

Judge in MPD officers’ trial rules on evidence, trainer takes stand again

“I did not want to show what we were doing,” Martin said of him removing his body-worn camera. Martin also instructed fellow officer Desmond Mills Jr., who has also pleaded guilty, to turn off his body-worn camera, something he said was common practice since he joined the team. 

Emmitt Martin III took the stand at the tail end of the first day of week two in the federal trial for the former MPD officers charged in the death of Tyre Nichols. 

Martin, under questioning from prosecutor Kathryn Gilbert, offered a strong rebuke of his own actions and that of his codefendants the night of Nichols’ beating.

Martin is one of the five former Memphis police department officers charged in Nichols’ death. He accepted a plea deal shortly before trial began. Prosecutors are recommending 40 years in prison.

Judge in MPD officers’ trial rules on evidence, trainer takes stand again

Martin testified that his actions and the actions of the others were not in line with MPD policy.

As the federal trial resumed Monday, Tadarrius Bean’s defense team continued questioning Larnce Wright, the Memphis Police officer who trained the five former cops charged in Tyre Nichols’ death.

After more than three hours of questioning Friday, U.S. District Judge Mark Norris warned that he would consider time constraints if attorney Kevin Whitmore continued much longer.

Judge in MPD officers’ trial rules on evidence, trainer takes stand again

Whitmore defended his lengthy discussion with Wright, saying that it would be the only time Bean has to hear from him.

“Once we sit down, it’s over,” Wright said.

After the court returned from lunch around 1 p.m., Judge Mark Norris ruled the response-to-resistance reports could be admitted as evidence.

Norris said the defendants had waived their right to raise the issue now and it ultimately would have been better dealt with before trial.

After Norris ruled, the jury was brought in for the first time in the day, and examination continued for Larnce Wright, the Memphis police officer who trained those charged in Tyre Nichols’ death.

Former MPD officer takes the stand in his own trial

More videos of Nichols’ beating were played by the prosecution and Wright was questioned how the response to resistance forms filed by the officers matched with their actions that night.

Former Memphis Police officer Demetrius Haley took the stand Friday morning in the federal trial against him and his two co-defendants.

Haley’s testimony came amid a tense argument over whether prosecutors should be able to admit as evidence forms that the former officers filled out after Tyre Nichols’ beating. 

Tyre Nichols trial: Two defense attorneys rest case

Defense counsel for Haley, as well as for Tadarrius Bean and Justin Smith, argued that the response-to-resistance forms are protected by Garrity Rights, meaning they could not be used against their clients in the criminal prosecution. 

Garrity Rights usually refer to statements officers or other public employees are compelled to make under threat of discipline or termination. Garrity statements are not allowed to be used in criminal prosecution against those who make them. 

A Memphis Police lieutenant who trained the five former officers charged in Tyre Nichols’ death was the first to take the stand Thursday as the federal trial against three of them continued.

Larnce Wright spoke about the training the officers received while they were recruits at the academy, including what kind of force to use against detainees and when.

Trial’s first witness is ICU nurse who admitted Tyre Nichols

He also said he gave recruits a warning:

“I taught them if they don’t follow the policies, they could go to federal prison,” he said.

A nurse practitioner who treated Tyre Nichols at St. Francis Hospital described the moment the victim’s mother arrived at the hospital and saw her son for the first time.

“She took a few steps and screamed and collapsed,” said Rachael Love, a nurse practitioner who works in the hospital’s intensive-care unit.

Love was the first witness to testify after opening statements in the federal trial for the three defendants charged in connection to Nichols’ death.

Officers pummeled Tyre Nichols because he fled, a form of ‘run tax,’ prosecutor says

Love recalled admitting Nichols, saying he looked like “he had been in a bar fight” initially and had a “large goose egg” on his forehead. Other injuries included a broken tooth and lacerations.

Three former Memphis police officers charged in the January 2023 beating death of Tyre Nichols stood by his body and laughed after they punched, kicked and struck him with a baton in an attack that a prosecutor says was punishment because he tried to run away.

The former officers are standing trial accused of federal civil rights violations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Rogers said during opening statements Wednesday, Sept. 11, that the officers were punishing Nichols for fleeing a traffic stop and she used the term “run tax” — police slang for disciplining a subject who tries to escape. She said the force they used did not match Nichols’ actions, and she warned jurors they would see videos of the beating. Footage of the attack was publicly released just weeks after his death.

Opening statements in trial of former Memphis officers to begin Wednesday

Rogers also said officers were just standing around in the “crucial” minutes when Nichols’ heart stopped, when they could have helped him.

“You won’t see Tyre Nichols pose a threat to these officers at any time,” Rogers said.

Opening statements are expected to begin Wednesday, Sept. 11, in the trial for the three former Memphis Police Department officers charged in the death of Tyre Nichols.

The prosecution and the defense approved of the jury after a two-day jury selection process Tuesday, Sept. 10. 

The jury is made up of four Black women, two Black men, two Asian men, four white women and four white men.

Jury selection continues Tuesday with discussions of bias

The jury took their oath around 5 p.m. after U.S. District Judge Mark Norris asked one last time if they would make an impartial decision as a jury. 

Jury selection continued Tuesday morning as U.S. District Judge Mark Norris questioned potential jurors for about three hours.

Much of that time was spent in inaudible sidebar conversations between Norris and the defense attorneys, prosecutors and potential jurors.

Eleven people were dismissed from the jury pool Tuesday: four Black men, four white men, two white women and one Black woman. They joined the seven who were dismissed Monday, the trial’s first day.

Seven dismissed from jury pool after first day of trial in Tyre Nichols case

Norris used the same two primary questions for potential jurors Tuesday as he did Monday, asking their opinions of a jurors’ characteristics and for an example of bias or prejudice.

Seven potential jurors were ultimately dismissed from the jury pool Monday afternoon, Sept. 9, after a long afternoon of questioning by U.S. District Judge Mark Norris. 

Tyre Nichols’ family was not present for the latter half of the proceedings Monday. 

Jurors were dismissed for a number of reasons, including previous knowledge about the case and knowing one of the former Memphis Police Department officers charged. 

Jury selection begins in federal trial of former cops accused in Nichols’ death

Norris also unveiled a list of 42 potential witnesses who could testify during the trial. A slew of former MPD officers, including those who responded to the scene the night Nichols was beaten and the two former officers who have already pleaded guilty in the case, are on the list.

Jury selection got underway Monday, Sept. 9, in the federal trial of the three former Memphis Police Department officers charged in the 2023 death of Tyre Nichols. 

In his opening remarks, U.S. District Judge Mark Norris, who is presiding over the case, highlighted the weightiness of the proceedings to come. 

He quoted Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, saying jury trials are a foundation of the American government and “the heart and lungs of liberty.”

Who’s who in trial of former MPD officers charged in Tyre Nichols’ death

The left side of the courtroom was filled with jurors, and Nichols’ family sat on the right side. 

Here’s who’s who in the federal trial for the former Memphis Police Department officers accused in the January 2023 beating death of Tyre Nichols. The trial starts Monday, Sept. 9.

Tadarrius Bean

Bean, 25, is one of three remaining officers set to go to trial for his alleged roles in Tyre Nichols’ death. Along with the other officers, he is accused of beating Nichols, failing to render medical aid and engaging in a cover-up of the beating. Bean was one of two officers who rode with Nichols in an ambulance to the hospital, and he is accused of giving misleading information to medical personnel. Bean had worked for MPD since 2020 prior to being fired Jan. 20, 2023.

Demetrius Haley

Haley, 31, is the second of three remaining officers who are set to go to trial. Along with beating Nichols and failing to render medical aid to him, Haley is also accused of kicking Nichols in the head and only activating his body-worn camera after the beating. Haley also had worked for the department since 2020 before he was fired along with his other codefendants in January 2023.

The federal trial for the former Memphis Police Department officers accused in the January 2023 beating death of Tyre Nichols starts Monday, Sept. 9. Here’s a primer.

Who are the three former officers on trial?

Tadarrius Bean, 25 at the start of trial, started with MPD in August 2020. He is represented by Southaven attorney John Keith Perry. 

Demetrius Haley, 31, also started with the department in August 2020. He is represented by Memphis attorney Mike Stengel.