Mixed verdict for 3 Memphis officers convicted in Tyre Nichols' fatal beating
Source: AP
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) Three former Memphis police officers were convicted Thursday in the 2023 fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, but were acquitted of the harshest charges they faced for a death that sparked national protests and calls for broad changes in policing.
Jurors deliberated for about six hours before coming back with the mixed verdict for Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith.
All were convicted of witness tampering related to the cover-up of the beating, but Bean and Smith were acquitted of civil rights charges. Haley was acquitted of violating Nichols civil rights causing death, but convicted of the lesser charge of violating his civil rights causing bodily injury. He was also convicted of a conspiracy to witness tamper charge that the others were acquitted of.
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The judge ordered all three 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.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/tyre-nichols-beating-death-memphis-officers-trial-5e19e800cd5017c89cb652cfc8235ea2
LudwigPastorius
(10,643 posts)I made myself watch the video of those cops beating Tyre, and it made me want to vomit.
KS Toronado
(19,421 posts)They never said if he was pulled over for a traffic violation or whether he was walking. They showed the
cops talking to him with no handcuffs on and the next thing is he takes off running away.
I can understand why people of color are afraid of cops, but when you run the numbers of how many
people the police talk to every day and how many are killed every day by the cops, statistically the
numbers say you'll go home alive if you don't run away, plus it helps if you're polite.
Cops don't like it when people run away from them, some get real angry, some uncontrollably angry,
don't aggravate them they all have loaded guns. Smile, be nice, no sudden moves and you'll get
home alive 99.999% of the time.