Michael Stengel, who represents defendant Demetrius Haley, said during opening statements that the trial is about “choices.”

Haley chose to become a cop, which he described as an “ugly and dirty” job, and Tyre Nichols chose to run away from police when they attempted to arrest him, Stengel said.

Stengel noted that the SCORPION team, which Haley and the other officers charged in Nichols’ death were a part of, used pretextual traffic stops to make arrests.

“They weren’t looking to write tickets. They were looking to suppress crime,” he said.

The criminal trial for the three former Memphis Police Department officers charged in the 2023 death of Tyre Nichols officially began Monday, April 28. 

Shelby County Deputy District Attorney Paul Hagerman, lead prosecutor on the case, delivered the state’s opening statement at about 11 a.m. Monday.

Hagerman focused on Nichols’ injuries, describing them as akin to the kind one might sustain in a car wreck. 

“Except this 29-year-old didn’t get these in a car wreck. The proof will be he got them from being beaten to death by five Memphis police officers,” he said. 

The state criminal trial for three of the former Memphis police officers charged in the 2023 death of Tyre Nichols begins Monday, April 28. 

Tadarrius Bean, Justin Smith and Demetrius Haley are all facing multiple charges related to Nichols’ death, including second-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping. 

The three are accused of beating Nichols during a traffic stop in January 2023. Nichols was punched, kicked, Tased and pepper-sprayed; he died from his injuries in the hospital three days later.

Two other former officers were also charged but have since taken plea deals and won’t be going to trial. Emmitt Martin III and Desmond Mills Jr. are both expected to testify against the other three former officers. 

Here’s who’s who in the state trial for the former Memphis Police Department officers accused in the January 2023 beating death of Tyre Nichols. The trial starts Monday, April 28.

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 charged with second-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault in concert, official misconduct and official oppression. 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 scheduled to go to trial. Haley also had worked for the department since 2020 before he was fired along with his other codefendants in January 2023. According to testimony given at the federal trial, Haley allegedly sent photos of Nichols after he was beaten to three different people: an ex-girlfriend, another officer and a family friend. 

Justin Smith

Smith, 29, is the third officer on trial. Smith started with MPD in 2018 and was fired Jan. 20, 2023, less than two weeks after Nichols’ beating. 

The jury in the state criminal trial for the three former Memphis police officers charged in the 2023 death of Tyre Nichols will come from Hamilton County in East Tennessee.

Jury selection for the trial began in Chattanooga on Wednesday, April 23, according to a report in the Chattanooga Times Free Press. A local law enforcement source confirmed that report to The Daily Memphian late Wednesday.

Shelby County Criminal Court Judge James Jones Jr. ruled in March the jury would be brought in from out of town and be sequestered in Memphis for the trial’s duration. Where the jury would come from had not been disclosed previously.

The trial is scheduled to start Monday, April 28, and Deputy District Attorney Paul Hagerman has said the proceedings are expected to last from one to three weeks.