Tire Nichols death trial: Memphis police carried out a 'brawl' in which he was killed, prosecutor says as trial concludes

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Memphis police officers who beat Tire Nichols to death wanted to punish him after he ran away during a traffic stop in 2023 and thought they could get away with it, a prosecutor said Wednesday during closing arguments in the Federal trial began with three of the officers.

“They wanted it to be a beating,” prosecutor Kathryn Gilbert told jurors in the federal trial of Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith, who are accused of violating Nichols' civil rights and trying to cover up the beating. “That was it.”

Prosecutors have argued that the beating was part of a common police practice known in official jargon as a “road tax” or “walking tax.” ”

Gilbert noted that Emmitt Martin, one of two officers who took a plea deal, testified that Nichols posed no threat when police beat him. She showed the jury a photo of a smiling Nichols, wearing a vest, a tie, a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and his hands in his pockets.

She said the officers laughed and bragged about hitting Nichols, then lied about it to her supervisor and medical staff to protect themselves.

“They chose their own ease and comfort over Mr. Nichols’ life,” she said.

Haley's attorney, Stephen Leffler, said his client only stepped on Nichols' arm once to handcuff him. He also accused Martin of falsely implying that Nichols tried to grab Martin's gun at the traffic stop.

“He was affected by this to his detriment and to the detriment of Tire Nichols,” Leffler said.

An attorney for Bean, John Keith Perry, told jurors that Nichols ignored commands such as “give me your hands” and that his client, the youngest of the officers, followed department policy. Perry said Bean didn't know if Nichols had a gun but ran after him anyway and attacked him.

“The violence was not excessive,” Perry said. “That just wasn’t the case.”

Bean hit Nichols with his hands only to try to grab his hands and handcuff him, Perry said, although an FBI agent who testified as a witness claimed that Bean hit Nichols in the head. Perry noted that the agent's interview with Bean was not recorded and he questioned the veracity of his statements.

None of the officers on trial testified in her defense. They each called experts to counter prosecutors' arguments that the officers used excessive force against Nichols, failed to intervene and failed to inform their superiors and medical staff about the extent of the beating.

Both Martin and the other former officer who pleaded guilty and testified before prosecutors, Desmond Mills, lied to investigators about the incident, said Perry, who warned the jury against playing a “game of changing words and semantics.” .

Police video shows five police officers, all black, punching, kicking and punching Nichols, who is black, about a block from his home as he called for his mother.

“You saw the punches,” Gilbert said. “You saw the kicks. You saw the batons.”

Earlier Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Mark Norris read detailed jury instructions.

Outside the courthouse, supporters of Nichols' family stood in a circle, holding hands, to offer a prayer to Tennessee state Rep. Justin Pearson. They ended the prayer by singing “Justice for Tyre.” Pearson sat next to Nichols' mother, RowVaughn Wells, in court during closing arguments, putting his hand on her back and rubbing her gently to comfort her.

Nichols died on January 10, 2023, three days after the beating. An autopsy report shows that Nichols – the father of a boy now 7 – died from a blow to the head. The report describes brain injuries as well as cuts and bruises to his head and other parts of his body.

During the traffic stop, officers used pepper spray and a Taser on Nichols, but the 29-year-old ran away, police videos show.

All five officers were fired. They were part of the Scorpion unit, which searched for drugs, illegal weapons and violent criminals. It was disbanded after Nichols' death.

Haley, Bean and Smith pleaded not guilty to federal charges of excessive force, failure to intervene and obstruction of justice through witness tampering. If convicted, they face life imprisonment.

The five officers pleaded not guilty and pleaded not guilty to the second-degree murder charge. A trial date for this case has not been set. Mills and Martin are expected to change their requests.