Ap and Afp
La Jornada Newspaper
Friday, October 4, 2024, p. 19
Memphis. Three former Memphis police officers were found guilty yesterday of witness tampering following the fatal beating of African-American Tyre Nichols in 2023, and were acquitted of the most serious charges they faced in a death that sparked protests across the country. United States, as well as cries for major changes in police conduct.
The jury deliberated for six hours before returning a mixed verdict for Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith, who are also black.
The three former police officers were convicted of witness tampering in connection with the cover-up of the beating, but Bean and Smith were acquitted of violating civil rights. Haley was found guilty of the lesser civil rights charge of causing bodily injury.
Nichols, 29, was stopped on January 7, 2023 by Memphis Task Force officers for a traffic violation.
Beaten again and again, to the point that his face was unrecognizable, his family reported, while the young man died in the hospital three days later.
The videos of the arrest were made public and were broadcast on the most important channels in the country.
The judge ordered the imprisonment of the three former agents. He is scheduled to hold a hearing Monday to hear from defense attorneys, who are expected to request his release pending sentencing.
The witness tampering charges carry possible sentences of up to 20 years in prison. The charge of deprivation of civil rights can be punishable by up to 10 years in prison. The former officers would have faced life in prison if convicted of the most serious charges.
Rodney Wells, Nichols’ stepfather, told The Associated Press outside court: A victory is a victory. They will all go to jail.
Five officers were charged in Nichols’ death, but two pleaded guilty and testified against members of their former crime-fighting unit, preventing the defense from employing any strategy that would have depended on them sticking together.
The jury repeatedly watched clips of video showing officers punching and kicking Nichols and hitting him with a baton just steps from his home, while the man screamed for his mother.