A judge considers jury instructions in the trial of three former Memphis officers charged in the death of Tire Nichols

A judge heard arguments Tuesday on dozens of pages of instructions that will be given to jurors in the federal trial of three former Memphis police officers accused of violating Tire Nichols’ civil rights in the beating that ended in death after a 2023 traffic stop.

Closing arguments were expected in the case but did not happen because U.S. District Judge Mark Norris spent many hours in chambers working to finalize the long and complicated instructions jurors will receive before they begin deliberations. During the morning and afternoon sessions, Norris listened to lawyers about instructional issues.

Prosecutor Forrest Christian said at the afternoon hearing that jurors must determine whether Nichols suffered bodily injury if they are to find the officers guilty of using excessive force.

The jury spent essentially the entire day in a separate room. Norris said the jury was “wasting their time there.”

After prosecutors dismissed the case Thursday, defense lawyers asked for an acquittal, arguing that prosecutors did not present enough evidence. Norris rejected those claims on Tuesday.

Attorneys for Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith rested their cases Monday after each called expert witnesses in previous days of testimony in an attempt to counter prosecutors’ arguments that the officers used excessive force against Nichols and failed to intervene and fail to notify. to their superiors and medical staff of beating proportions.

Police video shows five officers, all black, punching, kicking and punching Nichols, who was also black, about a block from his home as he screamed for his mother. Two officers, Desmond Mills and Emmitt Martin. He pleaded guilty and testified before the prosecutor.

Nichols died on January 10, 2023, three days after the beating. The autopsy report shows that Nichols – the father of a 7-year-old boy – died as a result of blows to the head. The report described brain injuries and cuts and bruises to the head and other parts of the body.

The five officers were part of the Scorpion Unit, which searched for drugs, illegal weapons and violent criminals. It was disbanded after Nichols’ death.

According to police video, officers used pepper spray and a Taser on Nichols during the arrest, but the 29-year-old escaped. Prosecutors argued that officers beat Nichols for running away, saying it was part of a common police practice known in officer parlance as a “street tax” or “land tax.” “

Haley, Bean and Smith have pleaded not guilty to federal charges of excessive force, failure to intervene and obstruction of justice by witness tampering. If convicted, they face life in prison.

The five officers also faced second-degree murder charges in state court, where they pleaded not guilty. Mills and Martin are expected to change their pleas. No date has been set for a state court hearing.

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