2nd ex-Memphis officer pleads guilty to civil rights violations in killing of Tyre Nichols

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- A second former Memphis police officer federally charged in connection with the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols has pleaded guilty, weeks before the trial is set to begin, court filings show.

Emmitt Martin III is one of five former officers indicted last year on federal civil rights, conspiracy and obstruction offenses in connection with Nichols' death.

After initially pleading not guilty to the charges following the indictment, Martin pleaded guilty to two of them during a change of plea hearing in federal court in Memphis Friday afternoon, online court records show.

Martin pleaded guilty to excessive force and failure to intervene, as well as conspiracy to witness tamper, according to the court records. The other two charges will be dropped at sentencing, which has been scheduled for Dec. 5, according to the online records.

The government said it will recommend a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, according to the plea agreement.

SEE ALSO: Ex-Memphis police officer says Tyre Nichols was pulled over for 'speeding' in newly-released videos

In the plea agreement, Martin admitted that, along with the other defendants, he "unlawfully assaulted" Nichols, and then attempted to "corruptly persuade" his supervisor to make "false and misleading statements" on the incident report to "cover up their use of unreasonable force on Nichols."

In a statement to ABC News, Martin's attorney, Stephen Ross Johnson, said: "Driven by anger, Emmitt Martin used excessive force on Tyre Nichols on January 7, 2023. Driven by fear, he tried to cover it up. Today, in open court, he accepted responsibility for what he did."

Martin is the second former officer to plead guilty in the case ahead of the federal trial, which is scheduled to start next month.

In November 2023, Desmond Mills Jr. pleaded guilty to two of the four counts in the indictment -- excessive force and failing to intervene, as well as conspiring to cover up his use of unlawful force -- as part of a plea deal with prosecutors.

The government said at the time that it will recommend a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, based on the terms of Mills' plea agreement.

Nichols' mother, RowVaughn Wells, called Friday's change of plea "bittersweet."

"This is very difficult," she said during a press briefing following the hearing. "I have four children. One of my kids is gone now because of the Memphis Police Department."

Wells said she wanted to see the other three defendants plead guilty to avoid a trial.

"I don't want to put my kids through all of that, but if we have to, we will," she said.

Nichols, 29, died on Jan. 10, 2023, three days after a violent confrontation with police following a traffic stop. The medical examiner's official autopsy report showed he died of brain injuries from blunt force trauma.

The federal indictment alleges that Martin and Mills -- along with Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith -- deprived Nichols of his constitutional rights during the confrontation.

Each of the defendants, according to the indictment, was involved in beating Nichols during the Jan. 7 traffic stop and none relayed information about their assault to the Memphis police dispatcher, their supervisor or the emergency medical technicians and paramedics who were coming to the scene.

The officers allegedly spoke at the scene about how they had struck Nichols, but they also did not relay that information to first responders or their supervisors even as his condition "deteriorated and he became unresponsive," the indictment alleges.

As part of his plea agreement, Mills admitted to "repeatedly and unjustifiably striking Nichols with a baton and to failing to intervene in other officers' use of force against Nichols," the Department of Justice said in a press release following his change of plea hearing.

He also admitted to not providing any medical aid to Nichols afterward, despite knowing he "had a serious medical need," and not alerting police or EMTs that Nichols had been struck in the head and body, the DOJ stated.

He further admitted to making false statements and accounts about Nichols' arrest and the use of force to a supervisor and in a Memphis Police Department report, according to the DOJ.

The other three defendants pleaded not guilty to the federal charges. Their trial is scheduled to start on Sept. 9 and is expected to last three weeks.

If convicted, two of the counts in the indictment carry a maximum penalty of life in prison, while the other two each carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, according to the DOJ.

All five former officers also face state felony charges, including second-degree murder, aggravated assault and aggravated kidnapping, in connection with Nichols' death. They pleaded not guilty.

The Memphis Police Department fired the five officers -- who were on the department's now-disbanded SCORPION unit -- following an investigation into Nichols' death.