Three of the five former Memphis police officers charged with second-degree murder in the death of Tyre Nichols have now asked for separate criminal trials, a request that prosecutors will ask a judge to deny.
Defense counsel for all five appeared briefly in court Friday morning.
An attorney for Desmond Mills Jr. is the latest to file such a motion. His petition is in addition to similar ones from defense lawyers for Tadarrius Bean and Justin Smith, who have also sought individual trials.
Those three were not present at the initial traffic stop where Nichols fled on foot, but were captured in video surveillance footage at the second scene where officers violently beat Nichols before taking him into custody. According to autopsy findings, Nichols eventually became unresponsive and was transported to the hospital where he died three days later.
The state’s medical examiner’s report says he died of blunt force injuries to the head.
All five officers—including Emmitt Martin III and Demetrius Haley, who were involved in pulling Nichols over for alleged reckless driving and also pursued him to the beating scene —have pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and other felony charges.
Martin’s attorney, William Massey, says he hasn’t made any final decisions regarding possible severance of Martin's case, but that he was instead prioritizing setting a speedy trial date.
“I think in the state system, we need to get this matter to trial,” Massey told reporters after Friday’s hearing. “So if others are with us when we go, that’s fine. And if they want to try their case at a different time, that’s up to them and their lawyers.”
Blake Ballin, who represents Mills, says his client should face a jury alone so jurors do not conflate different officers' actions.
“Mr. Mills is not guilty,” Ballin told reporters, but he says there’s the possibility that a jury could “prejudicially [and] mistakenly” determine his client’s culpability based on the involvement of others.
Prosecutors with the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office say all of the defendants should be tried together.
Judge James Jones Jr. will hear the motions for severance on Sept. 15, when the five former officers are expected back in court.
Media organizations are also awaiting Jones’ decision on whether to make public a large collection of documents related to the night of Nichols’ arrest that the City of Memphis intended to release months ago.
Defense attorneys had requested time to review the material and make specific objections to the release of certain items before being publicly shared.
On Thursday, District Attorney General Steve Mulroy also announced that his office was dismissing dozens of criminal cases for individuals that included the five charged officers as witnesses.
An email update from the DA’s office said the decision was made because of concerns about the former officers’ credibility once they were dismissed from the police force and criminally charged themselves.
