UPDATE: A jury has been selected for the federal trial of the officers charged in the Tyre Nichols case.
The jury will be comprised of eight women (four white and four Black) and eight men (two Black, two Asian, and four white).
Civil Rights attorneys Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci released the following statement,
“Tyre Nichols’ family have been praying for justice and accountability from the very beginning of this tragedy. Now that the jury has been selected, they pray that the jury will get all of the evidence and render justice for Tyre.”
Opening statements are expected to start Wednesday morning around 8:30 a.m.
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Tuesday marks the second day of the federal trial for three former Memphis Police officers accused in the death of Tyre Nichols.
During the trial, one juror questioned how the judge would be able to bring the jurors back “to the logical side of it” after viewing sensitive photos and videos.
The judge stated, “I will let jurors know when there is something of that nature coming so that you can anticipate it. The discussion starts here to figure out if you can do it or not.”
As of Tuesday morning, eleven more jurors have been eliminated.
On Monday, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, and Justin Smith, along with their attorneys, were sitting in court at the Odell Horton Federal Building in downtown Memphis as Judge Mark Norris began the process of narrowing down the jury pool from 200 to 16.
Forty potential witnesses were named on Monday. Included in that list were known names such as Emmitt Martin III and Desmond Mills, who are the other two former officers charged in the case. Martin and Mills have since taken plea deals.
Other potential witnesses:
- Preston Hemphill — Fired MPD officer who was on the scene and accused of tasing Nichols.
- Dewayne Smith — Lieutenant who responded to the scene and retired before he was fired.
- Robert Long — Fired EMT who was on the scene
- JaMichael Sandridge — Fired EMT who was on the scene
By Monday evening, only eight of the 200 jurors had been eliminated. The trial is expected to last between three and four weeks, but the jury selection will continue until the judge has 14 jurors and four alternates.
In January 2023, Tyre Nichols died in a hospital three days after being beaten by Memphis Police during a traffic stop near his home. Video and body cam footage of Nichols’ violent arrest was released by MPD weeks after the incident.
A federal grand jury indicted the former officers last September on charges of federal civil rights violation, conspiracy, and obstruction. These are separate from the state criminal charges in the incident.
All five suspects still face an upcoming murder case at the state level. Tyre Nichols’ family also has a $550 million lawsuit pending against Memphis Police and the City.
This story will be updated.
