a special thank you to each of our subscribers who make this channel possible here's today's story opening statements were expected Wednesday in the federal trial of three former Memphis police officers charged with federal civil rights violations in the January 2023 beating death of Ty Nichols prosecutors and defense lawyers are slated to address a jury for the first time in the death of Nicholls which was caught on police cameras and intensified calls for police reform in the US the trial is expected to last 3 to 4 weeks prosecutors and defense lawyers agreed on the 12 jurors and four alternates on Tuesday a pool of 200 candidates answered questionnaires ahead of jury selection prospective jurors answered questions from US District Judge Mark Norris about whether they could be fair and impartial in the face of heavy media coverage before the trial and whether watching video of the beating would be a problem for them if they are chosen tarius Bean Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith have pleaded not guilty to charges that they deprived the 29-year-old Nichols of his rights through excessive force and failure to intervene and obstructed Justice through witness tampering two others EMT Martin 3 and Desmond Mills Jr have already pleaded guilty to the federal charges and could testify against their former colleagues Nicholls who was black died in a hospital on January 10th 2023 3 days after he was kicked punched and hit with a police baton following a traffic stop police video released that month show showed the five officers who also are black beating Nicholls as he yelled for his mother about a block from his home video also showed the officers Milling about and talking with each other as Nicholls sat on the ground struggling with his injuries the officer said Nichols was pulled over for reckless driving but Memphis police chief has said there is no evidence to substantiate that claim an autopsy report showed Nichols died from blows to the head and that the manner of death was homicide the report described brain injuries and cuts and bruises to the head and other areas Nichols worked for FedEx and he enjoyed skateboarding and photography the three officers now facing trial along with Martin and Mills were fired for violating Memphis police department policies they had been members of a crime suppression team called the Scorpion unit which was disbanded after Nicholls death shortly after their dismissal the five were charged with second deegree murder in State Court where they pleaded not guilty they were then indicted by a Federal grand jury in September 2023 Mills and Martin are expected to plead guilty to the state charges as well a trial date in state court has not been set on Monday the judge read a list of potential witnesses that includes Martin and Mills in addition to two other former officers Preston hemp Hill fired his stun gun at the traffic stop scene but didn't follow Nicholls to where other officers pummeled him hill was fired Dwayne Smith was the supervising Lieutenant who arrived on scene after the beating he retired instead of being fired Tennessee governor B Lee on Tuesday told reporters that Nicholls death never should have happened but that steps have been made to improve on the circumstances in the city of Memphis and in the Memphis Police Department that family will always be forever changed because of that loss the Republicans said when asked directly about the trial and we talk a lot about Redemption and what we have to hope is that the Redemption that comes with Justice will be executed here in this case earlier this year Lee and Republican lawmakers clashed with Nicholls mother and stepfather as the state repealed Memphis Police reforms implemented after their son's death one of the voided city ordinances had outlawed so-called pretextual traffic stops such as for a broken tail light and other minor violations that's all for this story We upload videos every day covering many different subjects so hit that subscribe button to stay informed thanks for watching