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Attorneys for Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith
rested their cases Monday after each had called experts during
previous days of testimony in an attempt to combat prosecutors'
arguments that the officers used excessive force against
Nichols, didn't intervene, and failed to tell their supervisors
and medical personnel about the extent of the beating.
Police video shows five officers, who are all Black, punched,
kicked and hit Nichols, who was also Black, about a block from
his home, as he called out for his mother. Two of the officers,
Desmond Mills and Emmitt Martin. pleaded guilty and testified
for prosecutors.
Nichols died Jan. 10, 2023, three days after the beating. An
autopsy report shows Nichols — the father of a boy who is now 7
— died from blows to the head. The report describes brain
injuries, and cuts and bruises on his head and elsewhere on his
body.
The five officers were part of the the Scorpion Unit, which
looked for drugs, illegal guns and violent offenders. It was
disbanded after Nichols’ death.
The officers used pepper spray and a Taser on Nichols, who was
Black, during a traffic stop, but the 29-year-old ran away,
police video shows. Prosecutors argued that the officers beat
Nichols because he ran, saying it was part of a common police
practice referred to in officer slang as the “street tax” or
“run tax. ”
Haley, Bean and Smith pleaded not guilty to federal charges of
excessive force, failure to intervene, and obstructing justice
through witness tampering. They face up to life in prison if
convicted.
The five officers also have been charged with second-degree
murder in state court, where they pleaded not guilty. Mills and
Martin are expected to change their pleas. A trial date in state
court has not been set.
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Associated Press reporter Jonathan Mattise contributed from
Nashville, Tennessee.
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