MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The attorneys for Justin Smith and Taddarius Bean, the former Memphis Police Officers who were convicted of obstruction in the federal trial in the beating death of Tyre Nichols, filed motions Friday, seeking an acquittal, claiming the government failed to prove the charge.
Smith's attorney says if not an acquittal, they want the court to vacate the guilty verdict and order a new trial.
Smith and Bean were only found guilty on one count of a four-count indictment, which was count four: obstruction, witness tampering.
A third former MPD officer, Demetrius Haley, was convicted on the lesser charges of deliberate indifference and deprivation of rights resulting in bodily injury for counts one and two. Haley was also found guilty of counts three and four - conspiracy to commit obstruction and obstruction.
Justin Smith's motion to acquit
According to the filing on Oct. 11, 2024, Justin Smith’s attorney Martin Zummach claims during the trial, testimony the government relied upon to establish a case for obstruction for Smith actually disproved the charge.
The filing says the government relied on testimony from Lt. DeWayne Smith and Det. Valandria McKinnie to prove that Justin Smith “misled, omitted, or lied” to the two “with the specific intent to delay or hinder a federal criminal investigation.”
The attorney argues that while both Lt. Smith and Det. McKinnie testified, they disproved “any allegation of Justin Smith’s intentional, obstruction worthy, conduct towards them.”
The filing says the only other way to prove the obstruction charge would be Justin Smith’s “Blue Team” “Response to Resistance” form. The attorney says several supervisors testified that while Smith’s wording on the response may have been “unclear,” they would have asked him to clear it up with “appropriate Memphis Police Department terminology.”
The filing claims that Det. McKinnie testified that her only source in her report involving Justin Smith came only from another one of the officers who was charged – Emmitt Martin III. Martin and Desmond Mills pleaded guilty in the case and testified during the trial.
The attorney also says because Justin Smith was found not guilty on count three, conspiracy to obstruct justice, the government’s proof supporting the obstruction conviction no longer stands up, since Det. McKinnie only received direct reports that mentioned Smith from Martin, and not Smith himself.
The filing also says Lt. Smith testified that once Justin Smith learned of possible excessive force involving Haley and Martin, Justin Smith reported what he heard from the two to Lt. Smith and “sought advice on how to make the Memphis Police Department record clear,” long before a federal investigation began into the beating.
“The government’s own proof established that Justin Smith had no intentional knowing desire to obstruct justice or withhold information in the reporting process or persuaded, or attempted to persuade, a witness in order to hinder or delay any investigation,” said the filing.
The filing also asks for a review of the jury instructions regarding the obstruction charge.
Taddarius Bean's motion to acquit
In a separate filing on Oct. 11, Taddarius Bean's attorney argues that because the jury found Bean not guilty on counts one through three of the indictment, the court should set aside the verdict for count four.
The attorney claims there's no record of Bean providing information to Lt. DeWayne Smith at the scene, and says Lt. Smith directed questions to the appointed team leader - Justin Smith - and other senior officers at the scene. The attorney says Bean had only been with the SCORPION unit for a little over 90 days at the time of the beating.
The attorney also says there's no evidence Bean interacted with Det. Valandria McKinnie, who investigated the assault. The filing says because Det. McKinnie received her information from Martin and Haley, Bean did not provide “false and misleading information and withheld and intentionally omitted material information in their communications with MPD Supervisor 1 and MPD Detective 1.”
The filing also claims that when it comes to Bean's “Blue Team” “Response to Resistance” form, he "properly drafted his Response to Resistance Report documenting his use of force consistent with MPD policies and procedures."
More on the case
Justin Smith and Tadarrius Bean are currently out of jail after being allowed supervise release until the final sentencing in January. Bond was revoked for Demetrius Haley and he was ordered to remain in custody, though Haley’s attorney has filed a motion to have bond reinstated.
The three former MPD officers were charged in Tyre Nichols death, and were on trial for nearly four weeks. Nichols had been stopped by the former SCORPION unit members on Jan. 7, 2023, and died three days later at St. Francis Hospital.
The officers had originally been charged with 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.
The officers were convicted in a split decision Thursday, Oct. 3, after jurors deliberated for roughly six and a half hours.
The officers are still set to stand trial in the state case, in which they are charged with a host of offenses, including second-degree murder.
A jury trial for the $550 million lawsuit filed by Nichols’ family against the City of Memphis is set for March 2025.
In July 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it was launching a civil rights "pattern or practice" investigation into the Memphis Police Department and the City of Memphis.