MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Three former Memphis police officers broke department rules when they failed to say that they punched and kicked Tyre Nichols on required forms submitted after the January 2023 fatal beating, a police lieutenant testified Friday.
Larnce Wright, who trained the officers, testified about the reports written and submitted by the officers, whose federal criminal trial began Monday. The reports, known as response-to-resistance forms, must include complete and accurate statements about what type of force was used, Wright said under questioning by a prosecutor, Kathryn Gilbert.
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Jurors were shown the forms submitted by the three officers, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith. The three have pleaded not guilty to charges that they deprived the Nichols of his rights through excessive force and failure to intervene, and obstructed justice through witness tampering. None of the forms described punching or kicking Nichols. Omitting those details violates department policies and opens the officers up to internal discipline and possible criminal charges.
Nichols, who was Black, died Jan. 10, 2023, three days after the beating. Police video shows five officers, who also are Black, beating Nichols as he yells for his mother about a block from her home. Video also shows the officers milling about and talking as Nichols struggles with his injuries.
Wright said the three officers' reports were not accurate when compared with what was seen in the video.
“They didn’t tell actually what force they used,” Wright said.
Wright also trained the officers’ two former colleagues, Emmitt Martin and Desmond Mills Jr., who already have pleaded guilty to civil rights violations in Nichols’ death. Martin and Mills are expected to testify for prosecutors.
Bean and Smith wrote in their reports that they used “soft hand techniques” with closed hands. Wright said such a technique does not exist in department policies.
Haley’s report did not even say that he was present for the beating, only that he was at the traffic stop.
Earlier Friday, defense attorneys argued that the response-to-resistance forms are a type of protected statements that should not be admitted as evidence at trial. The judge ruled they could be used.
Kevin Whitmore, a lawyer for Bean, questioned Wright about the difference between active and passive resistance. Wright said active resistance means a subject is fighting officers. Defense attorneys have argued that Nichols did not comply with their orders and was fighting them during the arrest.
Officers deployed pepper spray while they struggled with Nichols. The attorney for at least one officer — Haley — has said in court that his client suffered from the effects of the spray, which include a burning sensation in the eyes and temporary blindness.
Jurors watched a video in which police trainees are pepper-sprayed, then ordered to strike a dummy. The video shows trainees forcefully hitting the dummy in the face with elbows while holding the back of its neck, and kneeing it in the abdomen.
Whitmore asked if those techniques were taught to officers as “instructionary things.” Wright said they were.
Wright also acknowledged that officers have the discretion to make split-second decisions in a rapidly evolving situation, such as when a person is attempting to evade arrest.
Wright began testifying Thursday, when he said the officers instead should have used armbars, wrist locks and other soft hands tactics to handcuff Nichols. He also testified that officers have a duty to physically intervene or call a supervisor to the scene if the officer sees another officer using more force than necessary.
Prosecutor Elizabeth Rogers said Wednesday that the officers were punishing Nichols for fleeing a traffic stop and that they just stood around during “crucial” minutes when Nichols' heart stopped, when they could have helped him. Nichols had no pulse for 25 minutes until it was restored at the hospital, according to testimony from Rachael Love, a nurse practitioner.
An autopsy report shows Nichols died from blows to the head. The report describes brain injuries, and cuts and bruises on his head and other areas.
All five officers belonged to the now disbanded Scorpion Unit crime suppression team and were fired for violating Memphis Police Department policies.
They were also charged with second-degree murder in state court, where they pleaded not guilty, although 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.