The Shelby County District Attorney’s office in Tennessee said Thursday it will review all cases previously handled by the five Memphis police officers accused of beating and killing Tire Nichols.
District Attorney Steve Mulroy did not say how many cases would be reviewed, but said in a statement that it would include closed and pending cases.
The five former officers were also added to the list of county law enforcement officers whose credibility has been questioned, Mulroy said.
Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills, Jr. and Justin Smith were charged last month with second-degree murder, kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression in connection with the brutal assault on Nichols on February 7. January.
Video footage of the body and police camera captured the beating, which led to his death three days later, sparking outrage across the country.
Despite claims that Nichols was pulled over for reckless driving, the Memphis police chief later said there was no evidence to substantiate those allegations.
All of the accused officers were members of a crime-fighting task force called Scorpion that was disbanded shortly after Nichols’ murder. The unit had made hundreds of arrests in the first few months of its launch in 2021, Mayor Jim Strickland said in a speech to the city last year.
Although the unit was created to combat violent crime, some residents say Scorpion officers have arrested them for minor, non-violent offenses.
A 22-year-old Memphis man, Monterrious Harris, filed a federal lawsuit this week claiming that Scorpion officers had beaten him just days before Nichols was attacked.
