MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis defense attorney Art Horne shared with ABC24 his legal analysis of what to expect from trials against the City of Memphis and the Memphis Police Department (MPD) after Jan. 30's release of additional video in the Tyre Nichols case.
The trial dates are all scheduled for cases related to the death of Tyre Nichols, including the $550 million-dollar civil lawsuit, which blames the city and MPD for turning a blind eye to the aggressive policing of Memphis' SCORPION Unit.
One of the five officers charged, Desmond Mills, plead guilty to state and federal charges, with a recommendation of 15 years in prison on the state murder charge. The other four former officers, Emmitt Martin III, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith and Tadarrius Bean, have pleaded not guilty to criminal charges including second-degree murder in the beating of Nichols after a traffic stop on Jan. 7, 2023, that was caught on video— and his death three days later.
There are two criminal trials against the other four Memphis Police officers who have not pleaded guilty in the case. The federal trial is set to start in May of this year, and the state's criminal trial date is in August. However, the civil trial against the city isn't slated to start until a year from now.
The federal charges against Mills concern his excessive use of force when he and the other four charged officers beat Nichols and refused to give him medical aid. He is also accused of lying to his supervisors about the beating.
On Tuesday, Jan. 30, the City of Memphis released additional video from the scene of Nichols' death, and the footage appears to show officers confused over his alleged charges, seemingly contradictory statements about Nichols "resisting" arrest and more. The footage contains hours of not-before-seen content from several different angles, which was previously held as evidence in the deadly traffic stop.
The potential jury pool for the criminal cases is only now learning about what is in the recently released video. Memphis defense attorney Art Horne said the video evidence is damaging.
"It's a snowball of lies, and what you're seeing is that snowball coming down to the bottom of the hill and busting open," he said. "And what people around are doing...they're going to be able to dissect the lies of these officers."
He expects more plea deals may be coming.
"If I'm a defense lawyer looking at some of these videos, it's very disheartening, and I'm looking to try and do a plea deal. This is not a case I would want to go to trial on," he said. "I think [former officer Demetrius Haley] had the most egregious behavior, so if they decided to try him first, it would give the other officers more opportunities to cooperate for a lower sentence."
Regarding the $550 million-dollar lawsuit, Horne said we might see a record settlement.
"Unfortunately, it's going to negatively impact the budget of the Memphis Police Department and the citizens of Memphis," he added.
So far, there has been no comment about Tuesday's developments from any of the attorneys we contacted who represent the ex-officers.