Federal trial begins for former officers charged in Tyre Nichols case

MEMPHIS, Tenn. ( WREG ) — The federal trial and jury selection for the three former Memphis Police officers accused of killing Tyre Nichols is set to begin Monday morning.

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The three former officers — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, and Justin Smith — were seen waiting with their attorneys outside the Odell Horton Federal Building in downtown Memphis at 7:30 a.m. A line for the jury pool stretched down the sidewalk on Front Street.

At 10 a.m., Tyre Nichols’ family entered the courtroom.

A federal grand jury indicted the former officers last September on charges of federal civil rights violation, conspiracy, and obstruction. These are separate from the state criminal charges in the incident.

Five now-former Memphis Police officers — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr., and Justin Smith — were fired for misconduct, indicted by a grand jury, and taken into custody.

Martin and Mills, who have already taken plea deals in the case, are expected to take the stand.

A pretrial conference was held on Friday for representatives of the former officers. During the meeting, Bean was the only former officer who attended.

In January 2023, Tyre Nichols died in a hospital three days after being beaten by Memphis Police during a traffic stop near his home. Video and body cam footage of Nichols’ violent arrest was released by MPD weeks after the incident.

Each is charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, two counts of official misconduct, and official oppression.

All five suspects still face an upcoming murder case at the state level. Tyre Nichols’ family also has a $550 million lawsuit pending against Memphis Police and the City.

WREG will update this story with new developments Monday.

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