NATIONAL NEWS

Former Memphis officers to face second trial in beating death of Tyre Nichols

Apr 27, 2025, 10:01 PM

FILE - The former Memphis police officers accused of murder in the death of Tyre Nichols appear wit...

FILE - The former Memphis police officers accused of murder in the death of Tyre Nichols appear with their attorneys at an indictment hearing at the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center on Feb. 17, 2023, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill, File)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS

(AP Photo/Brandon Dill, File)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Three former Tennessee police officers will face an out-of-town jury when their trial in state court starts Monday on second-degree murder charges in the beating death of Tyre Nichols after a 2023 traffic stop in Memphis.

Opening statements are expected to begin in the trial of former Memphis Police Department officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith, who have pleaded not guilty and already face the prospect of years behind bars after they were convicted of federal charges last year.

The beating of Nichols, a Black man, was caught on police video and 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.

The jury for the state trial was chosen in Hamilton County, which includes Chattanooga, after Judge James Jones Jr. ordered the case be heard from people outside of Shelby County, which includes Memphis. Defense lawyers for the officers had argued intense publicity made seating a fair jury difficult.

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

Two other officers, Emmitt Martin and Desmond Mills Jr., also have been charged but will not stand trial with their former colleagues. Martin and Mills are expected to change their not guilty pleas in state court, according to lawyers involved in the case. Sentencings for all five officers in the federal case is expected after the state trial.

Police video showed officers pepper-spraying Nichols, 29, and hitting him with a Taser before he ran away from the traffic stop on Jan. 7, 2023. The five officers, who all are Black, chased down Nichols and kicked, punched and hit him with a police baton just steps from his home as he called out for his mother. The video showed the officers milling about, talking and laughing as Nichols struggled.

Nichols died three days after the beating. The five officers were fired, charged in state court and indicted by a federal grand jury on civil rights and witness tampering charges.

Martin and Mills pleaded guilty to the federal charges under deals with prosecutors. The other three officers were convicted in October of witness tampering related to the cover-up of the beating. Bean and Smith were acquitted of civil rights charges of using excessive force and being indifferent to Nichols’ serious injuries.

Haley was acquitted of violating Nichols’ civil rights causing death, but he was convicted of two lesser charges of violating his civil rights causing bodily injury.

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.

The department is more than 50% Black and Police Chief Cerelyn “CJ” Davis is Black.

The five officers were part of a crime suppression team called the Scorpion Unit that since has been disbanded. The team targeted drugs, illegal guns and violent offenders with the goal of amassing arrests, while sometimes using force against unarmed people.

National News

FILE - The former Memphis police officers accused of murder in the death of Tyre Nichols appear wit...

Associated Press

Former Memphis officers to face second trial in beating death of Tyre Nichols

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Three former Tennessee police officers will face an out-of-town jury when their trial in state court starts Monday on second-degree murder charges in the beating death of Tyre Nichols after a 2023 traffic stop in Memphis. Opening statements are expected to begin in the trial of former Memphis Police Department officers […]

55 minutes ago

Associated Press

Mob chased Brooklyn woman after mistaking her for protester at speech by Israeli security minister

NEW YORK (AP) — A Brooklyn woman said she feared for her life as she was chased, kicked, spit at and pelted with objects by a mob of Orthodox Jewish men who mistook her as a participant in a protest against Israel’s far-right security minister. The assault, appearance by Itamar Ben-Gvir set off clashes between […]

2 hours ago

FILE - Florida first lady Casey DeSantis speaks during a Patient Freedom news conference Wednesday,...

Associated Press

Hope Florida: A timeline of how a DeSantis-backed state charity was accused of wrongdoing

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Scrutiny of a welfare program that is the signature initiative of Casey DeSantis, Florida’s first lady is threatening to undermine a potential run to succeed her husband as governor, as well as his own presidential ambitions. Lawmakers in Gov. Ron DeSantis’ own party have been investigating Hope Florida amid revelations that […]

2 hours ago

FILE - The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Camden, N.J., Wednesday, April 20, 2022. (AP P...

Associated Press

NJ high court to hear case between Catholic diocese, prosecutor over investigating sex abuse claims

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A Catholic diocese wants to stop New Jersey from trying to empanel a grand jury to investigate allegations of clergy sexual abuse, with arguments before the state’s high court set for Monday. After a Pennsylvania grand jury report found over 1,000 children had been abused since the 1940s, New Jersey formed […]

2 hours ago

FILE - President Donald Trump, left, poses for a photo with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a m...

Associated Press

With China and the US at intense economic odds, nations are being forced to choose sides

WASHINGTON (AP) — One went to the United States. The other went to China. It was a sign of the times. While the Swiss president was in Washington last week to lobby U.S. officials over President Donald Trump’s threatened 31% tariff on Swiss goods, the Swiss foreign minister was in Beijing, expressing his nation’s willingness […]

2 hours ago

Associated Press

Florida authorities declare a ‘mass casualty’ in boat crash near Clearwater bridge

CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) — Several people were injured Sunday when a boat crashed off the Memorial Causeway Bridge. The Clearwater Police Department posted on X that there were multiple injuries and the crash had been declared “a mass casualty incident” by the Clearwater Fire & Rescue Department due to the number of injuries. Authorities did […]

3 hours ago

Former Memphis officers to face second trial in beating death of Tyre Nichols