State Court Clears Officers in Tyre Nichols Case: Astonishing Legal Outcomes

On Wednesday, a state court acquitted three former Memphis police officers of all charges concerning the 2023 death of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man. The jury delivered a not guilty verdict for Demetrius Haley, Tadarrius Bean, and Justin Smith. Nichols, who worked at FedEx, endured a fatal beating during a traffic stop that ignited widespread outrage. A jury from Chattanooga was appointed to mitigate local prejudice. Civil rights attorneys Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci decried the verdict, calling it a profound miscarriage of justice.