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Former Memphis police officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith were acquitted by a jury Wednesday of second-degree murder in the Jan. 2023 beating of Tyre Nichols. The three had faced state charges relating to the death of Nichols, who had fled a traffic stop after being pulled from his car, pepper-sprayed and Tasered. Officers—none of whom had their body-cams on—chased Nichols down, then punched, kicked and hit him with a police baton. Nichols died three days later. In a statement to the Associated Press, Nichols’ family attorney Ben Crump called Wednesday’s verdicts a “devastating miscarriage of justice.” He added: ”The world watched as Tyre Nichols was beaten to death by those sworn to protect and serve.” The former officers could still face prison time, however, as they were convicted last year on the federal charge of witness tampering to cover up the beating, which carries a possible 20-year sentence. Haley was also found guilty of violating Nichols’ civil rights to cause bodily injury—a potential ten-year sentence—and conspiracy to commit witness tampering. Two other former Memphis cops, Desmond Mills Jr. and Emmitt Martin, had pleaded guilty in federal court, and agreed to plead guilty to state charges in a deal with prosecutors.
