Three former Memphis, Tennessee, police officers were convicted Thursday of federal witness tampering charges related to the deadly beating of Tyre Nichols in 2023.
Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith and Taddarius Bean were accused of depriving Nichols of his rights through excessive force, obstructing justice through witness tampering and other crimes. They pleaded not guilty.
Haley was convicted of one count of conspiracy to witness tamper and one count of obstruction of justice for witness tampering. Bean and Smith were found guilty on only one count, obstruction of justice, for witness tampering.
None of the men were found guilty of the counts of deprivation of rights under color of the law for excessive force and for failure to intervene or deliberate indifference, but Haley was convicted of the lesser counts for each, which involved bodily injury.
The judge ordered the officers to be taken into custody. He planned to hold a hearing Monday to hear from the defense lawyers about releasing them pending sentencing.
The witness tampering charges carry possible sentences of up to 20 years in prison. The civil rights charge against Haley carries up to 10 years in prison. They had faced up to life in prison if convicted on the harshest charges.
Nichols' mother, RowVaughn Wells, told reporters as she left the courthouse that she was in shock but happy that all of the men were convicted of at least one charge.
"All of them have been convicted of something, and they’re all going to jail. That’s how I feel," Wells said. "This has been a long journey for family."
Two other former officers, Emmitt Martin III and Desmond Mills Jr., pleaded guilty to the same charges.
Mills took a plea deal in which prosecutors call for up to 15 years in prison.
Martin testified that Nichols was “helpless” while officers pummeled him and that afterward the officers understood “they weren’t going to tell on me, and I wasn’t going to tell on them.” Under his plea agreement, prosecutors will suggest a prison sentence of up to 40 years.
Prosecutors accused the former officers of viciously beating Nichols, 29, after a traffic stop on Jan. 7, 2023, even though body camera video of the assault showed Nichols posed no threat to them.
“They stood by his dying body and laughed,” one of the prosecutors, Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Rogers, told the jury during opening statements. Then “they silently agreed to lie about it to cover it up.”
A defense lawyer for Bean said the officers had been trying only to subdue a suspect who failed to follow officers’ instructions.
Nichols was pulled over for reckless driving, but Memphis’ police chief has said there was no evidence to support the allegation.
Mills testified against his former colleagues during the four-week trial and acknowledged striking Nichols with his baton three times. He wept as prosecutors showed body camera video of other officers punching and kicking Nichols.
“I made his child fatherless,” Mills said of Nichols. “I’m sorry.”
Nichols, who had a young son, died in a hospital three days after the beating. An autopsy report listed his cause of death as blows to the head.
The five officers, who were members of a crime suppression team called the Scorpion Unit, were fired after Nichols' death for violating police department policies. Their unit was disbanded.
Federal prosecutor Kathryn Gilbert asked the jury Wednesday to find the defendants guilty on all counts.
She argued that at the heart of the case, the officers acted together and willfully aided and abetted in the assault that killed Nichols, WMC reported.
“Five officers beat Tyre Nichols. Five officers left him to die, and five officers covered it up,” she said.
Bean’s lawyer, John Keith Perry, said there was reasonable doubt for each of the crimes his client was charged with.
Haley’s attorney, Stephen Leffler, disputed the prosecution’s claim that Nichols never posed a threat to officers and said Martin, Bean and Smith’s blows killed Nichols, not Haley’s, WMC reported Wednesday.
The officers also face charges of second-degree murder in state court. They pleaded not guilty, though Mills and Martin are expected to change their pleas to guilty.
Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy, who is in charge of the state trial, said after Thursday's verdict that "appropriate steps" will be taken in state court after the federal sentencing decision, and after consultation with the U.S. Attorney's Office.
"The public deserves to know that those who enforce the law are not above the law: if they use excessive force they’ll be held accountable," he said. "While the verdict may not be everything hoped for, we’re fully prepared to move forward with the State’s case."