MEMPHIS, Tenn. — After 16 days and 28 witnesses’ testimony, closing arguments concluded in the federal trial against three former Memphis Police Department officers charged in the death of Tyre Nichols.
Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith each face four counts of deprivation of rights under the color of law through excessive force and failure to intervene, and through deliberate indifference; conspiracy to witness tampering; and obstruction of justice through witness tampering.
Those charges stem from the Jan. 7, 2023 traffic stop of Tyre Nichols. Nichols died three days later at St. Francis Hospital.
Two other officers, Desmond Mills and Emmitt Martin III, accepted plea agreements in the case and testified against their former colleagues.
Judge Mark Norris read jury instructions to the pool to begin the day, reminding them of their two duties, decide what the facts are, apply them to the law and determine whether the government has proven them beyond a reasonable doubt.
Prosecution's closing
Following Judge Norris charging jurors with their instructions, prosecutors began closing arguments by saying that these five officers beat Tyre Nichols to death and that they thought they had the power to beat a man, laugh about it and get it away with it.
“You know because you saw it over and over again,” prosecutor Kate Gilbert said.
Gilbert mentioned the “sickening thuds” caught on video and the officers own words when they thought no one was listening.
“As Tyre Nichols suffered, the officers laughed about what they did,” Gilbert said.
Jurors listened as Gilbert said these officers have tried to blame everyone but themselves, including EMTs, “for not guessing what they had done.”
“It was their responsibility,” Gilbert said. “Think about all the time these officers had to do the right thing.
“These officers chose violence. You could see the cover up unfold on video.”
Gilbert mentioned that instead of intervening, as they had been trained repeatedly and thoroughly to do, they encouraged each other to use force.
“They tell the smash bro with an anger problem who’s been seeing red to, ‘hit him,’” Gilbert said. “They lied. They knew it was wrong and wanted to cover it up.”
Gilbert said that Nichols is not there to tell jurors of the pain and terror that he must have felt that night.
“You know that those things hurt him,” Gilbert said. “You know that those things killed him.
“Tyre Nichols should still be alive. They chose their own comfort and convenience over Mr. Nichols life.”
Defense attorneys respond
The defense attorney for Bean, John Keith Perry, told jurors to disregard that they heard Nichols was running through a red light or that he drove two miles from the initial scene based on Martin’s testimony.
“Disregard this person was running because it was a cover-up,” Perry said, alluding to the fact that Bean was responding to radio traffic from the first scene.
Perry emphasized MPD policies and procedures on use of force, saying it was pain compliance by his client, “No more, no less.”
“They were doing their job,” Perry said.
Perry emphasized that other officers testified that they had never heard of Bean using any type of street tax, like other SCORPION unit officers.
Jurors then went through a power point presentation on witnesses testimony that had been given through the trial, with Perry emphasizing that the EMTs that were on scene did not give testimony in the case.
Perry said his witnesses showed that Bean followed policies and that the prosecutors could not impeach one of them.
“How was there a conspiracy?” Perry said. “Bean never agreed to anything.
“Look at the facts. Look at the video.”
Perry presented a slideshow, showing jurors a chart emphasizing that beyond a reasonable doubt is the highest level of the burden of proof that they must find.
“Don’t defund the police, refund Mr. Bean,” Perry said before the judge asked for a sidebar.
