Three Memphis Officers Receive Mixed Verdict in Tyre Nichols’ Fatal Beating Case

TIME

Three former Memphis police officers were convicted Thursday in the 2023 fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, but were acquitted of the harshest charges they faced for a death that sparked national protests and calls for broad changes in policing.

Transcript

00:00Three former Memphis officers who went on trial in the fatal beating of Tyree Nichols

00:12were convicted of one of four charges leveled against them, which is witness tampering,

00:18obstruction of justice.

00:19The three officers faced two civil rights charges, depriving Tyree Nichols of his civil

00:26rights by using excessive force and depriving Nichols of civil rights due to deliberate

00:32indifference.

00:33In other words, not worrying about his condition after he was injured.

00:39Two of the officers, Tadarius Bean and Justin Smith, were acquitted of excessive force and

00:45deliberate indifference.

00:47One officer, Demetrius Haley, was convicted of using excessive force causing bodily injury

00:54to Tyree Nichols, and he was also convicted of being deliberately indifferent to his condition

01:01after the beating, also for bodily injury.

01:04Before the verdict was read, Attorney Ben Crump sat next to Rovon Wells and Rodney Wells,

01:12Nichols' mother and stepfather.

01:14There were many marshals in the room, and the room was eerily dead silent as the verdict

01:19was being read.

01:21No one made any serious reactions.

01:23I did see Rovon Wells bow her head for a moment, but the decorum in the room was very somber,

01:30very silent, and very serious.

01:32After the verdict, the family, along with Attorney Ben Crump, friends, and activists

01:38gathered quietly in a huddle outside the courtroom, talking to each other and hugging each other.

01:44Rodney Wells, Nichols' stepfather, told me very briefly that, quote, a win is a win,

01:50baby.

01:51They're all going to jail.

01:52One of the aspects of this case that made it unique from other criminal cases in Memphis

01:56is the video.

01:57Prosecutors representing the state released video of the beating that was seen worldwide

02:05that shocked and angered many people, especially those who had been in Memphis for a long time

02:11calling for police reform.

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