Defense tries to chip away at murder charges against 3 ex-officers in Tyre Nichols’ death

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Testimony in the trial of three former Memphis officers charged with fatally beating Tyre Nichols resumes Wednesday, a day after defense attorneys sought to chip away at accusations that the officers used unnecessary force to subdue Nichols after he ran from a traffic stop.

Former Memphis officer Desmond Mills Jr. took the stand Tuesday as a prosecution witness against Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith, who have pleaded not guilty to state charges including second-degree murder in the death of Nichols. The three defendants already face the prospect of years behind bars after they were convicted of federal charges last year.

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Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, fled a January 2023 traffic stop after he was yanked out of his car, pepper sprayed and hit with a Taser. Five officers who are also Black caught up with him and punched, kicked and hit Nichols with a police baton, struggling to handcuff him as he called out for his mother just steps from his home.

The officers are charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression.

Footage of the beating was captured by a police pole camera and also showed the officers milling about, talking and laughing as Nichols struggled. His death led to national protests, raised the volume on calls for police reforms in the U.S. and directed intense scrutiny toward the police force in Memphis, a majority-Black city.

Mills and another officer involved in the beating, Emmitt Martin, have agreed to plead guilty to the state charges and are not standing trial with their ex-colleagues under deals with prosecutors. They also pleaded guilty in federal court, where sentencing for all five officers is pending.

Mills testified Tuesday that he regrets his failure to stop the beating, which led to Nichols’ death three days later from what an autopsy described as blunt force trauma.

As Nichols was struggling with Bean and Smith, who were holding Nichols on the ground, Mills tried to pepper-spray Nichols, but he ended up spraying himself, which made him angry, he said.

After stepping away to try to recover, Mills then walked up to Nichols and hit him three times in the arm with a police baton. Mills told prosecutor Paul Hagerman that he hit Nichols with the baton because he was angry. Martin arrived and punched and kicked Nichols in the head.

Mills acknowledged on the stand that he had a duty to intervene to stop the beating, but didn’t.

“Do you regret that?” the prosecutor said.

“Yes,” Mills said.

Under cross-examination, Mills said Nichols was actively resisting arrest and not complying with repeated orders to give officers his hands so that he could be handcuffed.

Defense attorney John Keith Perry asked Mills if he would have struck Nichols with the baton if Nichols had just put his hands behind his back. Mills said no.

Perry also asked Mills if he thought Bean and Smith were holding Nichols so that Martin could hit Nichols. Mills said he didn’t think that was the case.

Martin Zummach, Smith’s attorney, asked Mills if an officer is safe if a suspect is not handcuffed and searched for a weapon. Mills said they were not safe in that circumstance. Nichols was not searched before he ran from the traffic stop.

Mills said about 80% to 90% of the arrests he made involved a suspect with a hidden weapon.

“Do you need to wait for somebody to produce a weapon to do something?” Zummach asked Mills.

“No,” Mills said.

Mills acknowledged that the officers were dealing with fear and exhaustion as they struggled with Nichols, and that some of the methods used by officers complied with police department policies. Those include using wrist locks and hitting Nichols with the baton.

“That guy was whipping y’all’s tail, wasn’t he?” Zummach asked.

Mills said yes, though he later acknowledged during further questioning by the prosecutor that Nichols never punched, kicked or got on top of any of the officers.

In opening statements Monday, Hagerman, the prosecutor, said Nichols was being held by his arms by two of the officers as he was punched and kicked and hit with a police baton. Hagerman said the officers helped each other beat Nichols to death.

In December, the U.S. Justice Department said a 17-month investigation showed the Memphis Police Department uses excessive force and discriminates against Black people.