MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Jury members were chosen and sworn in Tuesday, Sept. 10, on the second day of federal trial for three of the five former Memphis police officers accused in the beating death of Tyre Nichols.
Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, and Justin Smith have all pled not guilty to various charges and will appear in the Odell Horton Federal Building in downtown Memphis.
They will be tried together as co-defendants, and all face the same four charges involving federal civil rights and conspiracy charges in Nichols' death.
The jury consists of four white men, two Asian men, four white women, four black women and two black men.
One of those jury members told the gallery he is a former coworker with a potential witness. That witness is MPD officer and former scorpion member Jesse Acosta.
The juror said Monday that he speaks with Acosta maybe once or twice a year.
Opening statements are set to begin Wednesday, Sept. 11. Mark Norris, the federal judge presiding over the case, said the jury would also be read their preliminary instructions.
Norris said the trial is expected to last three to four weeks. Norris read the names of 42 potential witnesses who may speak in the coming weeks.
The trial commenced Monday, Sept. 9, with the jury selection, where 200 potential jurors will be interviewed.
One woman was visibly upset Tuesday during a sidebar conference, and was still distraught after her dismissal.
Four jurors were struck before an early break before 11:30 a.m., and nine sidebar conferences were held with potential jurors. A total of 11 people were struck from the pool as of Tuesday's lunch break. Nine more were dismissed after lunch.
Seven were struck during the first day of jury selection. An eighth juror was sent home due to a doctor’s notice but was not in the jury pit.
Norris repeated questions from the first day, particularly discussing bias.
One potential juror said, “what was already seen could make you a little impartial.”
Nichols mother, RowVaughn Wells, came into the courtroom shortly after 10:30 a.m. surrounded by family members.
Twenty-eight potential jurors were cut before the court settled on its jury and swore them in just after 5 p.m. on Tuesday.
Two of the five officers, Desmond Mills and Emmitt Martin, entered guilty pleas in November 2023 and August 23, 2024, respectively. Martin 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 illegal force by omitting material information and by providing false and misleading information to his supervisor and others.
Several motions and pleas, including requests for change of venue and disagreements over witnesses have plagued the federal case.
During a pretrial conference Friday, Sept. 6, prosecutors revealed that they plan to show 14 videos regarding Tyre Nichols' death during the trial. According to the prosecutors, only 11 videos have been made available to the public, while three videos have not been released. On Saturday, however, discovery evidence was submitted to counsel that may include those videos.
"This Scorpion unit, not only was it corrupt, it was corrupted from the beginning," said Antonio Romanucci, an attorney for Nichols' family, in a press conference on August 23. "It never should have been formed. Those officers should not have been on there. They were not supervised."
The state criminal case, in which the officers have different charges, will be set after the federal trial. Each officer is charged with second-degree murder, official misconduct, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, and official oppression.
"You're going to hear testimony that officers were given the right to violate the constitutional rights of citizens who look like Tyre Nichols," said Ben Crump, an attorney for Nichols' family, in a press conference on August 23. "The blood is not only on these officer's hands; the blood is on the Memphis Police Department."
The trial could take several weeks. Though new discovery evidence was submitted for good cause, the court can deny, restrict, or defer discovery. The three officers are being tried as co-defendants, but they will all receive different sentences. ABC24 reached out to several of the ex-officer's attorneys and was told they would not comment.