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Second Memphis police officer pleads guilty in death of Tyre Nichols

From Daniel TrottaReuters

MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE - JANUARY 27: A photo of Tyre Nichols stands before a news conference on January 27, 2023 in Memphis, Tennessee. Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, died three days after he was severely beaten by five Memphis Police Department officers during a traffic stop on January 7, 2023. Memphis and cities across the country are bracing for possible unrest when the city releases video footage of the beating to the public later this evening. Scott Olson/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by SCOTT OLSON / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

A photo of Tyre Nichols before a press conference on January 27, 2023 in Memphis, Tennessee.
Photo: AFP

A second former Memphis police officer pleaded guilty Friday in connection with the killing of black motorist Tyre Nichols. The videotaped beating of five black police officers in January 2023 shocked the United States.

Emmitt Martin III, one of five fired police officers facing charges, was also expected to plead guilty to related Tennessee state charges, the Shelby County District Attorney's Office said in a statement.

Martin pleaded guilty to two of the four federal charges against him – depriving Nichols of his civil rights and tampering with witness testimony – and agreed to cooperate with the investigation, according to his plea agreement filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee.

That raises the possibility that he could testify against former colleagues, since Martin admitted to conspiring with the others to provide a misleading account of the beating. Members of his defense team did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

In November, Desmond Mills, another fired Memphis police officer, pleaded guilty to the federal charges and also agreed to plead guilty to related Tennessee state charges as part of a deal in which he agreed to cooperate with the state and federal charges, the Shelby County District Attorney's Office said at the time.

(COMBINATION) This combination of photos from the Memphis Police Department in Tennessee on January 26, 2023 shows former Memphis, Tennessee police officers (l-r) Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills, Emmitt Martin, Tadarrius Bean and Justin Smith. - US authorities charged five officers with premeditated murder on January 26, 2023 for fatally beating a black man in the eastern state of Tennessee after a traffic stop. (Photo by Handout / Memphis Police Department / AFP) / EDITORIAL USE ONLY - NAME CREDIT REQUIRED


Photo: AFP / Memphis Police Department

In exchange for his guilty plea, Mills, who faced life in prison, agreed with state and federal prosecutors to a 15-year prison sentence, the statement said.

As part of Martin's plea deal, federal prosecutors agreed to recommend a maximum prison sentence of 40 years, although Martin may request a shorter term.

Martin and Mills were among five officers who previously pleaded not guilty to federal civil rights violations and state first-degree murder charges.

The federal trial is scheduled to begin on September 9. The state trial is on hold while the federal trial develops.

The case is one of several that have sparked a nationwide debate about racism and police violence in the United States.

Police video shows officers kicking, punching, pepper-spraying and beating Nichols with a baton on January 7, 2023.

Nichols, 29, died in hospital three days later.

– Reuters

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