Memphis officers charged in Tyre Nichols' death face case review
Tonight in Tennessee, the Shelby County District Attorney is promising a review of every case, both open and closed, involving the five former Memphis police officers charged in the beating death of Tyree Nichols. Meanwhile, another man has come forward accusing those same officers of a similar attack just three days before Nichols was beaten. Here's CBS's Elise Preston. One month after Tyree Nichols' death following this brutal beating in Memphis, another man has come forward claiming he was beaten and arrested by the same five officers now charged with second degree murder. Those are the same five officers. Monterias Harris has filed a $5 million lawsuit against the officers and the city of Memphis, claiming they attacked him just three days earlier. At the point where the officer, he was like, you know, stopped reaching for the gun and I knew that I didn't have a gun.
I really wasn't sure. The 22 year old was booked on a gun possession charge as a convicted felon and spent several days in jail. The district attorney is now reviewing all cases involving the five officers. Former Shelby County prosecutor Josh Corman says the review is warranted. Prosecutor's going to have to look at those cases, probably all of those cases on a case-by-case basis, to figure out if those are cases that they can still meet their burden of proof. Internal disciplinary documents obtained by CBS News reveal more about the officers' encounter with Nichols. Demetrius Haley can be heard shouting that Nichols tried to grab one of the officers' guns.
He grabbed one of them. Justin Smith and Tadarius Bean are accused of punching Nichols several times and holding his arms while other officers assaulted him. Smith was the only officer to defend his actions on the record, stating that he propped Nichols up against the squad car after the violent struggle so he could breathe better and called for medical assistance. Attorneys for the five charged officers had no comment on the lawsuit. They are due in court on the criminal charges for the first time next week. Elise Preston, CBS News.
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