Judge delays release for another 20 hours of Tyr Nichols video

The judge postponed the release of additional videos and tapes in the case, which was due to take place on Wednesday afternoon.

Memphis, Tennessee. The release of another 20 hours of video and other documents in the Tyr Nichols case has been delayed following a court hearing on Wednesday morning.

The City of Memphis confirmed to ABC24: “In response to a motion for a protection order filed this morning by defense attorneys, the Tennessee Criminal Court for the 30th Judicial District 3 ruled that no video, audio, or recordings relating to the City’s administrative investigation , cannot be dismissed until the decision of the court.

The Shelby County District Attorney’s office released the following statement following Wednesday’s order: “For reasons of transparency and the public interest, our office supports the MPD’s decision to release the remainder of the Tyre Nichols investigation video to the public. As for other material that is scheduled to be released, our office must carefully review it to ensure that it does not harm the defendant or jeopardize our legal process. We know that the final word on this matter rests with the judge, and we believe that the appropriate decision has been made to protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation. We will work on reviewing the material quickly in the hope that more of it will be published sooner rather than later.

Blake Ballin, attorney for former Memphis police officer Desmond Mills, Jr., made the following statement in light of the judge’s order: “The motion and order filed today is the result of a need to balance the interests of transparency with the defendants’ right to a fair trial. Police investigations often uncover evidence that is irrelevant, biased, misleading, or inadmissible. The order issued today will allow all parties to review information that the Memphis police wish to release to ensure that the public is not exposed to such evidence. It is imperative that potential jurors do not form opinions or draw any conclusions before they have heard the actual evidence in this case. After consideration and input from all parties, we are confident that Judge Jones will deliver an order that upholds both the constitutional rights of the defendants and the public interest.”

Read Wednesday’s ruling HERE.

It comes after the city announced to the city council on Tuesday the latest actions it has taken regarding Memphis police and fire officials under investigation in Nichols’ death.

Memphis City Chief Executive Jennifer Sink said Tuesday that about 20 more hours of police video and audio would be released the next afternoon, but then a judge overturned the delay. She said that the video will be released similarly to the first video released at the end of January.

On Friday, January 27, the city released a video of the January 7 detention. Nichols died three days after the beating.

City officials also said they would release specific records of the administrative investigations and disciplinary actions that were decided upon. After the reviews are completed, the city will eventually release the rest of the ISP file, such as the testimony. The executive order of Wednesday morning also delays the publication of these entries.

Sink told board members that of the 13 MPD employees under investigation, seven had been fired. This includes five officers facing criminal charges (Demetrius Hailey, Tadarrius Bean, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith), as well as former officer Preston Hemphill, who was at the traffic stop. Hamfill has not been charged with a crime. The seventh officer who Sink said was fired was a lieutenant and acting chief of officers that evening. Sink also reported that a lieutenant arrived at the scene during the night.

Sink said the MPD lieutenant, whose name has not been released, filed a waiver before his hearing was scheduled, but based on the evidence available, the recommended action was dismissal. Since he opted out, he did not need to appear for the hearing, which Sink said was still ongoing. He said that because of his non-attendance, this employee was not formally fired.

Sink told the board of directors that three other MPD employees were suspended and two others were fired on administrative charges.

Sink said four Memphis firefighters are under investigation. Three have already been fired, and another MFD employee has been suspended from work. Two of the fired employees – both EMTS – suspended their licenses on February 3rd. They were not prosecuted.

“The City has conducted a very thorough and comprehensive investigation to ensure that everyone involved, whether in minor or major roles, is scrutinized to determine if we have had policy violations. , I wanted to solve this problem,” Sink said. “The conclusions we came to were very thoughtful. We looked at each person to make sure we have a complete understanding of what they are doing. It was a difficult situation for everyone. The city took it very seriously and continues to take it very seriously.” seriously.”

We also learned earlier that two Shelby County sheriff’s deputies were also released from their duties with pay pending the completion of the investigation, but they were not charged. On Thursday, February 16, Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner stated that the two sheriffs had been suspended for five days without pay effective February 15, but he had not received any instructions from the Mulroy District Attorney that these sheriffs charges will be brought.

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