Second former officer pleads guilty in Tyre Nichols case

A second former Memphis police officer involved with the January 2023 beating and death of Tyre Nichols changed his plea to guilty Friday, leaving three more to face a potential federal trial on charges of violating Nichols’ civil rights.

Emmitt Martin III pleaded guilty to excessive force and aiding and abetting the other officers’ excessive force, according to a Justice Department news release. He also pleaded guilty to conspiring to cover up misconduct.

His attorney Stephen Ross Johnson said anger and fear influenced Martin’s actions that day.

“Driven by anger, Emmitt Martin used excessive force on Tyre Nichols on January 7, 2023,” Johnson told the Washington Post in an email. “Driven by fear, he tried to cover it up. Driven by conscience, in open court he accepted responsibility for what he did by pleading guilty.”

Prosecutors said they’ll ask for no more than 40 years in prison at Martin’s Dec. 5 sentencing, according to the Associated Press.

Nichols, 29, died after police officers beat him during a traffic stop. Graphic body-camera video shows officers pin him to the ground, spray him with chemical irritants, kick him and strike him with a baton. At one point, he screamed for his mother.

An official autopsy report shared with the family showed that Nichols died of blunt force trauma, their attorneys said.

In a joint statement, attorneys Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci said that the other officers should be held accountable and that Martin’s plea was a good sign.

“The family is relieved that another officer has finally admitted his responsibility for this heinous act,” the statement said. “His admission of guilt to federal charges is a crucial component to accountability, although state charges remain, in addition to our civil action. This is another step in a long road to justice for Tyre.”

Court proceedings on state charges, including second-degree murder, will follow the federal case, Shelby County District Attorney Steven Mulroy (D) said last year.

Another former Memphis officer, Desmond Mills Jr., pleaded guilty in November to federal charges of excessive force and obstruction of justice. He faces up to 15 years in prison.

Following the release of the body-camera footage shortly after Nichols’ death, hundreds of people protested and held vigils for Nichols across the country. On social media, people would post photos of sunsets in honor of Nichols’ passion for landscape photography.

A federal grand jury returned indictments against Martin, Mills, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith on charges of using excessive force, aiding and abetting each other in using that excessive force, failing to intervene to stop the excessive force, failing to render medical aid and conspiring or taking action to cover up their misconduct. Bean, Haley and Smith have pleaded not guilty to those charges.

Each of them is Black, as was Nichols. All five officers were fired. The remaining three defendants will face a federal trial scheduled for Sept. 9, the Justice Department news release said.

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Dalton Bennett, Ellen Francis, Jennifer Hassan, Andrew Jeong, Robert Klemko, Joyce Sohyun Lee, Justine McDaniel, David Nakamura, Elyse Samuels and Adela Suliman contributed to this report.