MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Desmond Mills, one of the former Memphis Police officers charged in the death of Tyre Nichols, is surrendering his license to practice law enforcement in the state of Tennessee.
Mills’ attorney Blake Ballin confirmed the news with WREG Tuesday morning.
This comes as Mills and three other officers are scheduled for an informal hearing in front of Tennessee’s POST (Peace Officer Standards and Training) Commission Thursday afternoon.
The Memphis Police Department submitted a decertification request for Mills last month. Ballin says they signed an agreed order which will be entered later this week after the hearing.
He called the step “meaningless” for his client, saying Mills has no desire to practice law enforcement in a state that’s “wrongfully accused him of murder.”
“Mr. Mills has taken the position that, well, you don’t want me to work for you. Guess what? I don’t want to work for you anyway,” said Ballin. “The state of Tennessee has wrongfully accused him of murder and other crimes. Why would he want to continue to be employed by them?”
Ballin says he and his client must spend their time wisely, being that Mills has a criminal indictment pending and is facing decades in prison. “He has limited resources, limited energy, just like all of us do. And he has wisely chosen to focus those on defending himself in the criminal case.”
Three other former MPD officers involved in the Nichols case are scheduled for the informal hearing in Nashville Thursday– Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin and Justin Smith. Preston Hemphill and Tadarrius Bean were initially scheduled to appear, but their attorneys say those have been put off.
As for Mills, Ballin reiterated they need to deal with the criminal indictment first but said if and when Mills wants to be an officer again, he can go through the process of applying for certification in another state.
Tyre Nichols was a father to a 4-year-old and worked at FedEx with his stepfather. Family has said he enjoyed skateboarding, photography, Starbucks and watching the sunset from a park in Memphis.
He died in a Memphis hospital three days after his encounter with police. Family said in some of his last words, he called out for his mother, whose name was tattooed on his arm.
