Sept. 9 (UPI) — Jury selection began Monday in the federal trial of three former Memphis officers on civil-rights violations related to the 2023 beating death of motorist Tyre Nichols.
Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith are facing multiple charges, including violating Nichols’ civil rights through excessive use of force and unlawful assault.
Two other former officers, Desmond Mills Jr. and Emmitt Martin III, have taken plea deals and are expected to testify.
The five were part of the since-disbanded Scorpion Task Force, a specialized unit created to root out street crime, and the unit was known for aggressive policing tactics.
Two counts carry a maximum penalty of life in prison, and the other two each carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The five men already face state charges of second-degree murder, aggravated assault and aggravated kidnapping. They pleaded not guilty.
Tyre Nichols’ family has a $550 million lawsuit pending against Memphis police and the city.
His parents, RowVaughn and Rodney Wells, entered the courtroom in Memphis.
“You’re the mother. You want to make sure that what they’re saying is correct and you want to make sure that everything is going accordingly,” RowVaughn Wells told NPR. “So you have to sit there and listen, even though you don’t want to.”
Nichols died in a hospital on Jan. 10, 2023, three days after being beaten.
The medical examiner’s official autopsy report for Nichols showed he “died of brain injuries from blunt force trauma.”
In September 2023, a federal grand jury indicted the five former officers.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said that the officers conspired to cover up their crimes including falsely stating that Nichols had actively resisted arrest.
“Tyre Nichols was just minutes away from home when he was pulled over by law enforcement officers sworn to protect him,” Garland said in a statement. “As the indictment charges, the defendants in this case, who at the time were serving as detectives of the Memphis police department, brutally beat Mr. Nichols, they then failed to render medical aid to Mr. Nichols and further failed to tell emergency responders that they had struck him repeatedly even as his condition deteriorated and he became unresponsive.”
After Nichols’ death, the Justice Department commissioned a review of the use of specialized units within law enforcement and produced new guidance.
