MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
A jury in Memphis heard opening statements yesterday in the federal trial of three former police officers involved in the deadly arrest of a Black man last year.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
The three officers, who are also Black, are charged with violating the civil rights of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols, who died after a traffic stop turned horribly violent. They are also accused of conspiring to cover up their roles in the incident. Surveillance and body camera footage captured officers restraining, kicking and punching Nichols. He died in the hospital three days later.
MARTIN: Katie Riordan from member station WKNO was in the courtroom for opening statements, and she's with us now to tell us more. Good morning, Katie.
KATIE RIORDAN, BYLINE: Good morning.
MARTIN: So let's start with the prosecution. What is their case?
RIORDAN: Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Rogers told jurors to prepare themselves for evidence that's hard to watch and listen to, that they'll see Tyre Nichols beaten to death on camera from multiple angles. She's referring to that publicly released footage that you mentioned. Rogers says the video will show that Nichols tried to calm officers down after they pulled him over, and that he struggled with their inconsistent commands before he's pepper sprayed and flees on foot.
We also know that two other former officers, who pleaded guilty to federal charges, will be called on to testify. And on Wednesday, Rogers said they'll talk about a so-called run tax. That was the first time this term has surfaced in this case. She described it as a kind of understood punishment that this group of officers would inflict on people who ran from them. Prosecutors also want to convince jurors that the officers failed to tend to Nichols serious medical needs after the beating, and that they didn't tell arriving EMTs about his injuries, which the prosecution says could have helped save him.
MARTIN: So as you said, very disturbing thing. This is going to be obviously very challenging for people to sit through, including you, I would think. So let's turn to the defense now. What did we find out about their strategy?
RIORDAN: The defense attorneys haven't been speaking publicly, so this was jurors and really our first peek at their version of events. Each of the defendants - Tadarrius Bean, Justin Smith and Demetrius Haley - have their own attorneys. So we heard three opening statements. They had some common themes, saying these officers work in a dangerous city and have dangerous jobs. The officers were part of a special police unit called Scorpion that was stationed in areas with high crime rates in Memphis.
One attorney described Nichols as a, quote, "high-risk" suspect because he failed to stop for the officers' blue lights for some time after driving erratically. After he eventually did stop, the defense says Nichols heightened the situation by fleeing. Lawyers also talked about how the officers' police training allows for escalated force in certain situations, and they told jurors that the officers radioed for paramedics to check out Nichols right away. We also learned that Smith's attorney says his client will take the stand to tell his side of the story.
MARTIN: Interesting. So we are going to hear - we're likely to hear from at least one of the officers. What comes next?
RIORDAN: Well, the prosecution has already called their first witness. She's a nurse practitioner who tended to Nichols at the hospital and testified about the severity of his injuries. And of note - outside of these court proceedings, the Department of Justice is currently conducting a civil investigation to determine if issues like an excessive use of force are systemic within the Memphis Police Department.
MARTIN: That is Katie Riordan with member station WKNO in Memphis. Katie, thanks so much for sharing this reporting.
RIORDAN: Thanks for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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