MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Federal prosecutors feel they have satisfied their burden of proof in the civil rights trial against three former Memphis Police officers charged in the death of Tyre Nichols, resting their case in court Thursday.
The prosecution rested after 19 witnesses were called to the stand, including two former MPD SCORPION Unit officers who pled guilty to Nichols' 2023 beating death; Desmond Mills Jr. and Emmitt Martin III.
Defense attorney Martin Zummach, representing former MPD officer Tadarrius Bean, informed the judge he had filed a motion for acquittal.
Zummach informed the judge before a break that he had filed a written motion for acquittal.
Defense attorneys for the other two defendants also argued to Judge Mark Norris the reasons for acquittal who is taking them under advisement while the trial goes on.
Bean’s attorney Kevin Whitmore argued that policies on passive and active resistance aren’t written down and that policies in general aren’t written down.
“To say he wasn’t actively resisting is disingenuous,” Whitmore said.
Prosecutors said that Whitmore himself presented reams of written down policies being argued in the case.
Whitmore also said that Martin was the killer in this case.
Prosecutors noted that medical testimony showed that successive blows led to injuries that contributed to death and that there doesn’t need to be expert testimony to know not to lie in official reports.
Haley’s attorney Michael Stengel argued that there was insufficient proof to establish the four counts and no proof of any unspoken conspiracy.
Prosecutors noted the texts to Bean asking about body worn camera footage and calls to Mills on body worn camera footage on what they captured.
The trial over alleged federal civil rights violations from Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith, which began on Sept. 9, 2024 with jury selection, has lasted just over two weeks.
Former officers testify
Martin, who took a plea deal on federal charges, testified for roughly half an hour on Monday, Sept. 16, saying he was there to tell what happened to Tyre.
Prosecutors noted that Martin’s nicknames were “full can” for his use of pepper spray on a past suspect and that with Haley, he was called “smash brothers,” for being "aggressive."
Martin said that the now-defunct SCORPION Unit’s goal was to get guns and drugs off the street. Officers were picked based on productivity and it was statistics driven for staying on the team.
When asked by prosecutors what training taught him about use of force, Martin said, “You can be charged by the department and possibly here.”
Martin openly admitted to not using his body worn camera properly all of the time and that you were supposed to write your response to resistance form as if it was to be presented in court.
Prosecutors asked about the “run tax” and what it meant. Martin said that it meant if you run, “you get your a— beat.”
Martin said the unit would often exaggerate what suspects did to justify or downplay what they did.
He had been struck by a car in November 2022 and returned to work Jan. 3, 2023.
Martin said he was nervous and scared to go back to work.
“I was angry,” Martin said. “I wanted some kind of revenge. I was seeing red.”
Desmond Mills Jr., who also took a plea deal, testified for three straight days starting Tuesday, Sept. 24.
Smith and Bean were allegedly punching Nichols when Mills arrived, he said.
Mills is shown threatening to and pepper spraying Nichols as he calls for his mother.
“I thought it would help and get handcuffs on him,” Mills said.
Mills said he should have adequately analyzed the situation.
“I just pulled the spray out and I sprayed Mr. Nichols,” Mills said. “I failed to assess and analyze … just started spraying.”
Prosecutors asked what threat Nichols posed during the portions of the video shown.
Mills said, “None.”
After a recess, Mills was asked about his use of the ASP baton, which he admitted to using three times against Nichols.
“I was angry because I just sprayed myself in the face,” Mills said. “I didn’t give him a chance to give me his hands.”
Mills struggled to speak after watching the video of Nichols being struck and his breath began to quiver. He didn’t answer the question from prosecutors on who was using excessive force and cried.
“I wish I would’ve stopped the punches. It hurts to watch. It hurts inside so much,” Mills said. “It felt bad every time the picture is on the screen to know I’m a part of that. I made his child fatherless. I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I know sorry won’t bring him back but I pray his child has everything he needs growing up.
“Food clothes, everything. … I wish I didn’t see it.”
Mills admitted that he is testifying in hopes that his sentence will be reduced.
Prosecutors asked why the officers didn’t tell lieutenants and Mills said, “it was ugly,” and “so we didn’t tell lieutenant.”
Mills walked away from the scene twice, saying once was when he sprayed himself and the other was because he “wished he didn’t see it.”
“I wish I would’ve stepped in between them,” Mills said. “It looked bad. I didn’t want to be a part of it.”
Defense calls first witnesses
Haley’s defense attorney Stephen Leffler started his defense late Thursday by calling two witnesses.
One was a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation forensic analyst, Carrie Schmittgen, who conducted testing on the case, particularly mentioning the boots of the officers.
After entering her report into evidence, prosecutors were able to cross examine and ask about Haley’s right boot.
Schmittgen said testing indicated the presence of blood on the toe area of Haley’s right boot but they couldn’t determine if it was human blood due to a limited sample size.
A second expert witness, Samatha Spencer, gave her testimony after being contacted by the defense counsel to do her own testing.
Spencer said her testing found that Haley’s right boot did have the DNA of Nichols, but was more likely skin cells that can be found anywhere, including clothing.
Prosecutors asked Spencer one question, was Tyre Nichols’ DNA found on Haley’s right boot?
Spencer said yes.
