AILSA CHANG, HOST:
In Memphis today, three former police officers accused in the beating death of Tyre Nichols were convicted of some charges and found not guilty on others. In particular, the jury decided that the former officers were not guilty on the most severe charges that they faced, which could have put them in prison for life. NPR's Debbie Elliott was in court and joins us now. Hi, Debbie.
DEBBIE ELLIOTT, BYLINE: Hi, Ailsa.
CHANG: So just help us sort through these mixed verdicts. What do we have here?
ELLIOTT: You know, it's complicated, but I think the big takeaway is that fired Memphis police detectives Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith were all acquitted of charges that their actions led to the death of Tyre Nichols. Now, one of them, Haley, was found guilty of the lesser charge of depriving Nichols of his rights by using excessive force, failure to intervene and deliberate indifference resulting in bodily injury. He was also convicted of conspiracy in an attempt to cover up what happened. All three of the ex-officers were convicted of obstruction of justice and witness tampering.
CHANG: OK. Well, how did the family of Tyre Nichols react to what happened today in court?
ELLIOTT: You know, Rodney Wells, who is Nichols' stepfather, called it a good day for the family. He said they were elated to see the U.S. Marshals take the defendants out of the courtroom and that they were immediately going to jail. He said justice for Tyre was a long time coming. And then the family's attorney, Ben Crump, characterized the guilty verdicts that they did get as a powerful message that law enforcement officers who commit crimes will be held accountable. Now, local activists who have long been complaining about police tactics in Memphis were standing with the family, and they appeared a little upset that the officers were not convicted of the harshest crimes that they faced.
CHANG: I mean, can you just remind us, Debbie, how this case began? Like, what kind of evidence was brought forward by prosecutors?
ELLIOTT: It was all - it all started with the traffic stop in January of last year. And the key evidence in the case was that graphic body cam and surveillance video that came out right after Tyre Nichols was killed. It showed five officers repeatedly punch, kick and use police batons, pepper spray and a taser on Nichols and then leave him on the pavement, gasping for his life, when they seemingly brag about how bad they beat him. Two of the ex-officers, Emmitt Martin and Desmond Mills Jr., pleaded guilty and testified against the others. Nichols, who was 29, died three days afterward, and the coroner had testified that it was a homicide from blunt-force trauma.
But defense lawyers argued all along that this was a high-risk traffic stop and that officers acted in keeping with police policy because Nichols ran a red light, failed to stop when pursued by police and then ran away from them. They were trying to arrest someone who was doing everything but complying, said Bean's attorney, John Keith Perry, during closing arguments, and he denied it was unreasonable force.
CHANG: And real quick, what happens now in the proceedings?
ELLIOTT: Well, sentencing will come at a later date, but that's not the end of legal proceedings. These ex-officers still face murder charges in state court, and the family has a $500,000 civil lawsuit pending against the city of Memphis.
CHANG: More to unfold. That is NPR's Debbie Elliott in Memphis. Thank you so much, Debbie.
ELLIOTT: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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