Jury selection will begin on Monday in the federal trial of three former police officers involved in the fatal assault of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, Tennessee.
Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith are charged with violating the 29-year-old’s civil rights through excessive use of force, and other offences. They have pleaded not guilty.
Two other ex-officers who were also involved in the incident – a traffic stop that led to a brutal beating caught on camera – may be called to testify against them.
Mr Nichols’s death sparked protests against police brutality and calls for reform in one of the nation’s largest majority-black cities.
The five men fired and charged in the case are all also black, and racial justice advocates have argued it is evidence of broader issues in the policing of black communities.
The officers were members of the Memphis police department’s Scorpion Task Force, a controversial and since-disbanded street unit that had been tasked with bringing down crime levels in particular areas.
Video footage from the defendants’ 7 January 2023 encounter with Mr Nichols show the motorist being pulled over by police, for alleged reckless driving, before being dragged out of his vehicle and severely beaten.
The victim can be heard asking what he did wrong and later crying out for his mother.
He died three days later, with an autopsy ruling it as a homicide from blunt force trauma.
In total, the city of Memphis fired six police officers and three fire department officers in connection to the incident.
In the federal trial that kicks off Monday, the three defendants are charged with “wilfully depriv(ing)” Mr Nichols of his rights by their use of excessive force, failure to intervene during the assault, and deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs, as well as obstructing justice by conspiring to cover up what happened.
They have pleaded not guilty. If convicted, they could face life in prison or the death penalty. The men also await a trial date on related state charges.
Two ex-detectives – Emmitt Martin III and Desmond Mills Jr – have both pleaded guilty over their involvement in Mr Nichols’ death since a grand jury indictment last September.
Now cooperating with prosecutors, they may be called to take the stand against their former colleagues.
Jurors will be selected from a poll of about 200 Memphis residents.
Mr Nichols’ mother RowVaughn Wells and her husband Rodney are expected to attend the trial.
“You want to make sure that what they’re saying is correct and you want to make sure that everything is going accordingly,” she told NPR.
“So you have to sit there and listen, even though you don’t want to.”
The family is currently suing the city of Memphis for $550m (£420m). (BBC News)
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