MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A trial date has been set for next year on state charges for the four remaining Memphis Police officers in the deadly beating of Tyre Nichols.
“We are committed to Justice For Tyre until the very end," said Paul Hagerman, Shelby County Assistant District Attorney.
Tadarrius Bean, Justin, Smith, Demetrius Haley, and Emmitt Martin have pleaded not guilty to state charges of second-degree murder, assault, official misconduct, and kidnapping. They also face federal charges in the beating.
In court Monday, Nov. 6., a trial date was set for Aug. 12, 2024. The D.A.’s office estimated the trial will take about a month. An earlier request by attorneys for three of the officers to sever the trials had previously been denied.
The Shelby County District Attorney's office and the former officers will have until Dec. 4, 2023 to complete their discovery process. Both parties will have until Feb. 2, 2024 to file a motion, and have until Jun. 14, 2024 to have a hearing before the trial begins next summer.
“We think we picked realistic dates,” said Hagerman.
Lawyers like William Massey, who is representing Martin, agree these dates are realistic, but he said he still plans on filing several motions before the February deadline.
“We’re looking very hard at whether or not a change of venue is necessary. We don’t want it to be but it may,” said Massey.
If a change in venue were granted, local attorney Murray Wells said this could delay the trial date, since a new, non-local jury, would have to be called to hear the case.
“It’s going to be difficult for the defendants to get a fair trial here because everyone has probably pre-judged what has happened, that would be the basis of the motion. The likelihood of success of whether or not he wants that is another question,” said Wells.
It was announced last week that the fifth MPD officer, Desmond Mills, would plead guilty to all the charges against him, including second-degree murder, after accepting a federal plea deal. The Shelby County District Attorney General Steve Mulroy said he recommended a sentence of 15 years for Mills, which must still be approved by a judge during a sentencing hearing.
RELATED: New details on the federal plea agreement for former MPD officer Desmond Mills in Tyre Nichols case
Nichols was beaten Jan. 7 after a traffic stop that was caught on video, and he died three days later. Nichols died of blows to his head, and the manner of death was homicide, an autopsy report released May 4 showed.
The five officers, all of whom are Black, were fired shortly after the beating. In addition to the state charges, they were indicted Sept. 13 on federal civil rights charges alleging they used excessive force and lied about the beating. A plea deal was announced for Mills on the federal charges, and the other four have pleaded not guilty. A trial date was previously set for May 6, 2024, on the federal charges.
The five officers, along with two other fired MPD officers and three Memphis Fire Department emergency medical technicians fired for failing to render aid to Nichols as he struggled with his injuries, are defendants in a civil lawsuit by the family of Tyre Nichols against the City of Memphis.
The five former officers were part of the so-called Scorpion unit, a crime-suppression team that police officials disbanded after Nichols' beating.
In July, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it's launching a civil rights "pattern or practice" investigation into the Memphis Police Department and the City of Memphis.