A U.S. jury sentenced three former police officers, a 29-year-old father, to death in the controversial killing of Tire Nichols, to be killed after a traffic stop in Memphis, Tennessee.
Former police officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith were found not guilty on Wednesday in a state-level case, including a second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression.
This is their second criminal trial after federal charges against Nichols' death.
In this case, the three officials were also acquitted for the worst charges they face, despite being convicted of witness tampering for alleged attempts to cover up the assault.
The five policemen killed by Nichols carried out the Nichols killing on January 7, 2023. As videos of the assault spread online, Nichols' death rekindled debates about law enforcement violence and excessive debates in the black community.
After the verdict, Memphis District Attorney Steve Mulroy told reporters that Nichols' family had "destroyed" and "angry."
"We can understand why they are angry, given the evidence," Murroy said.
"I was surprised that there was no criminal verdict on any charge or any minor offence given the overwhelming evidence we have presented? Yes, I was surprised." "Do I have an explanation? No."
All five officers involved in the assault were members of the Scorpion Division of the Memphis Police Department, a now-discontinued squad focused on alleged crime hotspots in the city. The outcry after Nichols' death led to it being disbanded.
On the day of the killing, Nichols was removed from office for suspected reckless driving, although prosecutors expressed doubts about the motive and pointed out that police cameras showed no evidence of wrongdoing.
The police pulled Nichols from his car and laughed at him as he was on the ground. Nichols then tried to escape. He encountered a residential area not far from where his mother lived, and five policemen threw him to the ground and kicked, punched and beat him with batons.
The camera caught Nichols crying at his mother for help. He died in the hospital three days later. The autopsy determined his death as blunt trauma on the head.
The two officers involved - Desmond Mills JR and Emmitt Martin avoided the trial by reaching a deal with federal prosecutors in exchange for a guilty defense. The two also reportedly obtained a plea deal in connection with state charges.
Wednesday's verdict was the climax of a nine-day trial against three other officers.
The three-person defense team tried to transfer the blame to the majority of the violence that other officers had. It also accused Nichols of resisting arrests and not following police orders, which made police concerned about their safety.
“This is the performance of Emmitt Martin and Tire Nichols,” said Martin Zummach, defense attorney for Smith, one of the three officers.
Zummach also claimed that he found credit and debit cards not belonging to Nichols in his car after the assault. He told the jury that this could explain Nichols' decision to escape the scene.
But prosecutors in the case believe Nichols escaped out of fear of his whole life. They also said the officers had the responsibility to stop the beating, which caused tears and blood in Nichols' brain.
The jury also showed the jury the video of the assault when prosecutors tried to convey the last-minute violence of Nichols.
The trial held a seven-day hearing and two-day jury review in Hamilton County, most white areas in Tennessee. The judge had previously ordered the court lawsuit to be removed from Shelby County, where Memphis is located, for fear that public scrutiny would be biased towards a jury.
Ben Crump, a civil rights lawyer representing the Nicole family, issued a statement after Wednesday's decision condemned the results.
"Today's judgment was a devastating judicial abortion," the statement said. "The world watched Tire Nichols beaten to death by those who took oath and served."