Police in Tyre Nichols case convicted of witness tampering

Three police officers have been convicted of witness tampering in the case of Tyre Nichols, who died after a prolonged beating during a traffic stop in Memphis.

However, they were cleared of civil rights charges that could have seen them locked up for life.

Mr Nichols, a father of one, died three days after officers punched, kicked and hit him with a baton in January 2023 as he was just yards from his home.

The 29-year-old’s death and a video of the incident – in which he cried out for his mother – sparked outrage in the US and led to police reform.

One of the officers, Demetrius Haley, was found guilty on two counts of “deprivation of rights resulting in bodily injury” – each of which carries a maximum 10-year sentence.

But the federal jury decided that offence did not result in Mr Nichols’ death, ruling out a possible life sentence.

Haley was also found guilty of two counts of witness tampering; while the other two officers, Tadarrius Bean and Justin Smith, were convicted on one witness tampering count but cleared of the civil rights charges.

Two other officers had already pleaded guilty and testified against their colleagues, saying Mr Nichols had posed no threat.

All five of the men – who are all black – have been fired, and are also charged with second-degree murder in a state case, where they have pleaded not guilty. That trial has not yet begun.

Prosecutor Kathryn Gilbert told the court on Wednesday the officers tried to cover up what they did and never gave Mr Nichols any medical help.

“This wasn’t one punch. It was over and over and over and over and over again, and not one of these defendants tried to stop it,” Ms Gilbert said.

The court heard the officers had lied about the force they used – to medics treating Mr Nichols, their superviser and in written reports.

Jurors also heard they had claimed they pulled over Mr Nichols for driving dangerously, saying he had sped up to beat a red light.

Video showed them beating him for three minutes after he broke free and ran off when he was initially stopped.

A post-mortem showed he died from being hit in the head and sustained brain injuries, cuts and bruises, with haemorrhages throughout his body.

Case fuelled America’s challenges with policing

This verdict was in the federal case against three of the officers. All five officers have been charged with second-degree murder in a separate state-level case which is yet to go to trial.

The jury was asked to consider four counts. Two of the four carried a lesser count as an option for the jury.

Count 1 – Deprivation of Rights under Colour of the Law: Excessive Force & Failure to Intervene. (Lesser involving bodily injury).

Count 2 – Deprivation of Rights under Colour of the Law: Deliberate Indifference. (Lesser involving bodily injury).

Count 3 – Conspiracy to Witness Tamper.

Count 4 – Obstruction of Justice: Witness Tampering.

Lawyers for the three former policemen built separate cases to defend their clients. They sought to sow doubt about the quality of the officers’ training and the varying degrees of culpability for their actions.

They also sought to divert blame to the other two of the five officers involved – Emmitt Martin III and Desmond Mills Jr – who both pleaded guilty to the same charges.

None of the three were found guilty of the first two counts but Demetrius Haley was convicted of the lesser counts for each.

The case fuelled America’s challenges with policing and institutional racism but the fact that the officers and victim were all black added a different dimension.

While some suggested it undermined the accusation of racism, others argued that it furthered the evidence of racism being deeply ingrained within American policing.

Diversity is often cited as the key solution to reduce racial bias within policing.

But according to research by the Harvard Law Review, it is the ingrained culture of a department and the race of the people being policed which are far more consequential in how events play out.

The Harvard research, conducted in 2018, concluded: “Whether or not police officers are policing their own, if the broader structural forces… remain the same, the racial dimensions of policing with which the nation continues to grapple are likely to persist”.

The defence tried to paint Mr Nichols as the main aggressor but one of the officers who agreed a plea deal, Emmitt Martin, testified he was not a threat and was “helpless” as they beat him.

He said the officers had understood afterwards “they weren’t going to tell on me, and I wasn’t going to tell on them”.

Desmond Mills, the other officer who took a plea deal, gave a tearful testimony saying he was sorry.

He said he participated in a cover-up hoping Mr Nichols would survive and the case would “blow over”.

The US Justice Department is conducting several reviews into Memphis police, including examining its use of force, how it conducts arrests, and whether it carries out racially discriminatory policing.

Mr Nichols’ mother, RowVaughn Wells, is also suing the city and its police chief for $550m (£419m).

After Thursday’s verdict, she told reporters: “This has been a long journey for our family.

“I’m actually in shock right now because I still can’t believe all the stuff that’s going on. But we’re happy that they all have been convicted and they have been arrested.”

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