Jury to begin deliberation Thursday in Tyre Nichols trial
Defense attorneys representing the three defendants made their closing arguments Wednesday afternoon and continued through 7:20 p.m.
There are 48 article(s) tagged Tyre Nichols trial:
Defense attorneys representing the three defendants made their closing arguments Wednesday afternoon and continued through 7:20 p.m.
In closing arguments Wednesday, prosecutor Kathryn Gilbert told jurors that officers wanted to punish Tyre Nichols after he ran from a 2023 traffic stop and that they thought they could get away with it.
The retired officer said Smith had a reputation for his passion for the job, his professionalism and making sure his conduct was “legal and ethical.”
“He’s always shown a character of humility, and that’s always stuck with me,” Bryant McKinney said. “Because no matter how good he did at something, he always was humble about the situation.”
A retired police chief from the Gallatin Police Department testified one former MPD officer went through the appropriate use-of-force continuum the night of Tyre Nichols’ fatal beating.
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 ER nurse at Saint Francis Hospital-Memphis.
Demetrius Haley moved for acquittal Thursday, joining Justin Smith and Tadarrius Bean who filed their motions for acquittal earlier in the afternoon.
Testimony on Thursday, Sept. 26, unveiled texts and statements, one in which a former Memphis officer charged in the case said he felt it was his fault Tyre Nichols died.
“‘The radio sounds better than how the camera looks,’” Desmond Mills Jr. recalled Lt. Dewayne Smith saying of the Nichols footage.
Desmond Mills Jr. testified Wednesday he was afraid of telling the truth because, “I’d be sitting in the exact seat I’m sitting in now.”
“I wish I could have stopped the punches,” Desmond Mills Jr. said. “It hurt to watch. … I felt bad every time his picture’s on the screen and to know I’m a part of that.”
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.
Both witnesses said they deleted the Nichols photo. “I didn’t want that in my phone,” said one.
Former Lt. Dewayne Smith told prosecutor Kathryn E. Gilbert that he was unaware of any physical violence after the Tyre Nichols traffic stop.
Kyle Coudriet, a former SCORPION Unit officer, faced questioning about lying to FBI agents in interviews during investigation of the Tyre Nichols case.
A former SCORPION Unit officer testified he had seen Demetrius Haley and Emmitt Martin III use excessive force against an arrestee prior to Tyre Nichols’ beating.
“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.”
Martin testified he was “seeing red” the day the 29-year-old was beaten.
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.”
Tadarrius Bean’s defense attorney continued his cross-examination of a Memphis police trainer.
Demetrius Haley’s testimony came amid a tense argument over whether prosecutors should be able to admit as evidence forms that the former police officers filled out after Tyre Nichols’ beating. Related content:
“I taught them if they don’t follow the policies, they could go to federal prison,” a Memphis Police lieutenant who trained the former officers said in the courtroom Thursday.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Rogers used the term “run tax” — police slang for disciplining a subject who tries to escape — during her opening statements in federal court Wednesday.
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