Attorneys for two former Memphis police officers convicted of obstruction in the beating death of Tyre Nichols filed motions for acquittal.
The anticipated comments come nearly a month after 29-year-old Tyre Nichols was beaten during a confrontation with Memphis police officers after he fled a traffic stop on Jan. 7. He died three days later.
Already, six officers have been fired for their roles in the incident, including five who have been charged criminally with second-degree murder.
Monterrious Harris, 22, filed the lawsuit against the officers and the city of Memphis, alleging the officers were among several members of the now-disbanded SCORPION police unit who allegedly punched, stomped and dragged him across concrete during his arrest on January 4.
Preston Hemphill, the white Memphis Police officer who was one of the first cops to confront Tyre Nichols, was fired from the force, the Memphis Police Department announced Friday evening.
The bill, which would've sought to address racial profiling and use of deadly force, was passed by the Democrat-controlled House in 2021 but stalled in the Senate over the issue of qualified immunity for officers.
