MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Three of the five ex-Memphis Police Department officers charged in the 2023 death of Tyre Nichols had a pretrial scheduled Friday, Sept. 6, just a couple of days before the official trial is set to begin.
The former officers, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith Jr., will face federal civil rights and conspiracy charges in Nichols' death.
All their attorneys came to the conference, while Bean had been the only former officer to attend.
During the conference, prosecutors revealed that they plan to show 14 videos regarding Tyre Nichol's death during the trial. Only 11 videos have been made available to the public, while three videos have not been released, according to the prosecutors.
The defense said they were worried that only snippets of the videos would be revealed without showing the entire context. Bean and Smith's attorneys filed to withdraw from the agreement to all stipulations to authenticity and admissibility of evidence that relate to him. The judge took these arguments under consideration.
The former officer's attorneys also took issue with the prosecution's use of MPD academy trainers as expert witnesses, wanting the opportunity to interview those experts to question whether they are qualified to talk about any topic prosecutors may bring up. Additionally, attorneys claimed the prosecutors were using multiple trainers as witnesses over the same topic and would make repetitive statements. They requested that only one or two be allowed to testify.
The prosecution disagreed with the attorneys' assessment.
The trial will start Monday, Sept. 9, beginning with the jury selection process. About 200 potential jurors will be interviewed.
Nichols died from blows to his head, and according to an autopsy report released May 4, 2023, the manner of death was homicide.
So far, two of the ex-MPD officers charged in Nichols' death have pleaded guilty.
Emmitt Martin III pleaded guilty to counts one and three of the federal indictment. Count one charged Martin with using excessive force and failing to intervene in the unlawful assault. Count three charged Martin with conspiring to cover up his use of unlawful force by omitting material information and by providing false and misleading information to his supervisor and to others.
"Driven by anger, Emmitt Martin used excessive force on Tyre Nichols on January 7, 2023. Driven by fear, he tried to cover it up. Today, in open court, he accepted responsibility for what he did," Martin's attorney Stephen Ross Johnson said.
Martin's sentencing hearing is set for Dec. 5, according to court records.
A fifth former officer charged in the case, Desmond Mills Jr., pleaded guilty in early November 2023 to federal charges of excessive force and obstruction of justice. The same charges Martin pleaded to Friday, Aug. 23.
According to court records, Mills' sentencing will be on Nov. 7, 2024
As part of their plea deals, prosecutors recommended Martin get 40 years in prison and Mills get 15 years.
Bean, Haley and Smith are also set to face state charges of second-degree murder after the conclusion of the Sept. 9 federal trial.
Nichols' mother, RowVaughan Wells filed a $550-million suit against the City of Memphis, the involved officers and Police Chief CJ Davis, accusing her of ignoring the department's SCORPION Unit's 'aggressive' style of policing and accusing MPD of improper training and low hiring standards.
Wells has also started the official Tyre Nichols GoFundMe page which has now raised over $1.5 million. Wells says she wants to the funds to build a memorial skate park for Nichols, in honor of his love of skating and sunsets