By Daniel Trotta
(Reuters) -Three former Memphis police officers went on trial in federal court on Wednesday on charges stemming from the January 2023 beating death of Black motorist Tyre Nichols in a case that provoked outrage and led to police reform.
Police video showed five Black officers kicked, punched, pepper-sprayed and struck Nichols with a baton on Jan. 7, 2023, as he cried out for his mother. Nichols, 29, an avid skateboarder, photographer and father of a young son, died in a hospital three days later.
"We are going to ask that you watch Tyre Nichols get beaten to death," Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Rogers (NYSE:ROG) told the jury in opening statements, previewing the evidence to come, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reported from the courtroom.
The video shocked Americans as the case became the latest in a series of police killings of Black men to raise questions about racism and police brutality in the United States.
Two of the five officers originally charged with civil rights deprivation and witness tampering have pleaded guilty and might be called to testify against their former colleagues.
All five were also charged with second-degree murder in Tennessee state court in a separate case that is on hold until the federal trial is completed.
The five officers, who were fired, had been detectives with the Scorpion police unit investigating street crimes. Besides disbanding Scorpion since the death of Nichols, Memphis passed police reforms such as requiring officers to use only marked vehicles for traffic stops, strengthening citizen review boards, and requiring more police data collection.
The officers reported Nichols had been driving dangerously. Rogers, the prosecutor, told jurors that Nichols "sped up to beat a red light" in the most detailed explanation to date as to what provoked the traffic stop, the Commercial Appeal reported.
Desmond Mills and Emmitt Martin III are the two defendants who pleaded guilty. Mills agreed to a 15-year sentence and prosecutors agreed not to seek more than 40 years for Martin. Both men are scheduled to be formally sentenced later this year.
That leaves Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith facing trial. They could face life in prison if convicted.The video showed police pulled Nichols from his car, pushed him to the ground and threatened to tase, spray and beat him as they held him down. Nichols broke free and ran away before police caught up to him again and the beating took place.
Defense Attorney John Keith Perry, who represents Bean, told the jury to watch Nichols' behavior after he ran away from the traffic stop, saying a police officer must make split-second decisions based on a subject's actions.
"You are not supposed to sit in judgment of Tyre Nichols. Sit here and judge his actions for 10 minutes. Measure his actions. What you are supposed to do is look at it wholeheartedly," Perry said, according to WREG television.
Nichols' family has filed a $550 million federal lawsuit against the city of Memphis.