Men convicted in Ahmaud Arbery’s murder ask for new trial

(MEMPHIS, Tenn.) — Jury selection is set to begin Monday in the federal trial of three former Memphis officers charged in connection with the death of Tyre Nichols: Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith

Nichols, 29, died several days after a January 2023 traffic stop captured in body camera footage and surveillance footage, which allegedly shows officers violently striking Nichols repeatedly and walking around, talking to each other as Nichols was injured and sitting on the ground. His fatal beating triggered protests and calls for police reform.

The medical examiner’s official autopsy report for Nichols showed he “died of brain injuries from blunt force trauma,” the district attorney’s office told Nichols’ family in May 2023.

Five former officers were charged, including Bean, Haley and Smith who are now on trial and have pleaded not guilty, as well as Desmond Mills Jr. and Emmitt Martin III, who have pleaded guilty to some of the federal charges.

Bean, Haley and Smith are accused of violating Nichols’ civil rights through excessive use of force, unlawful assault, failing to intervene in the assault, failing to render medical aid, and conspiring to engage in misleading conduct by attempting to falsify or intentionally withholding details of the arrest in statements and to a supervisor.

Police said Nichols was pulled over for reckless driving, though Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis said she has been unable to substantiate that.

While Nichols’ mother has said that first responders told her her son was drunk and high, the autopsy report shows that his blood alcohol level was .049, the DA’s office said. The district attorney’s office told the family that was “well less than the legal limit to drive.”

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.

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.

Mills 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, according to the DOJ. The government said it will recommend a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, based on the terms of Mills’ plea agreement.

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.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(MOUNTAINVIEW, Colo.) — A 17-year-old was shot in the face while he was looking for a location to take homecoming pictures in Colorado, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies responded to a report of two trespassers on a property at around 4 p.m. Tuesday. The homeowner also called her boyfriend to report the trespassers, according to the sheriff’s office.

Deputies arrived on the scene to find a teenager bleeding heavily from his face as his friend applied pressure to the wounds with a T-shirt. A man identified as Brent Metz, 38, was standing with the two boys, according to the sheriff’s office.

The injured boy told a responding deputy that Metz shot him in the face through the windshield of his car, the sheriff’s office said.

The teen told the deputy he and his friend had driven to the property to see if they could take their homecoming pictures there. The boys parked at the gate, jumped the fence and walked up to the driveway to speak to the homeowner, but it appeared no one was home, according to the sheriff’s office.

The boys then walked around the property trying to find the homeowner, but were unable to, authorities said. They then walked to their car and began writing a note to the homeowner asking for permission to use the property, according to the sheriff’s office.

As they wrote the note, a man they had never seen before pulled up next to them, exited the truck he was driving and fired a round through the windshield, striking the 17-year-old driver in the face, according to the sheriff’s office.

The boy was taken by ambulance to the hospital, according to the sheriff’s office. The teen’s current condition is not known.

Deputies found the weapon used in the shooting in Metz’s truck, according to the sheriff’s office.

Metz was arrested and transported to the sheriff’s office, where he was booked into jail for first degree assault, felony managing, illegal discharge of a firearm and reckless endangerment, according to the sheriff’s office.

An investigation into the incident is ongoing.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) — A NASA employee testified during a weekslong hearing on the implosion of OceanGate’s Titan submersible that the agency had disagreements over the sub maker’s press materials mentioning NASA.

Justin Jackson, a materials engineer with NASA, testified Thursday during the U.S. Coast Guard’s hearing into the June 2023 implosion of the OceanGate submersible, which killed all five passengers while on a deep-sea dive to the Titanic shipwreck.

Jackson said OceanGate’s then-chief operating officer initially reached out to NASA to manufacture a composite hull and they signed an agreement under the Reimbursable Space Act Agreement in early 2020.

NASA had an interest in the fabrication of a thick composite hull for “exploration applications,” though the COVID-19 pandemic prevented the agency from manufacturing or testing one for OceanGate, he said.

NASA did provide remote consultation to OceanGate on a one-third scale mockup, including a plan to try to fabricate a thick-walled hull, Jackson said. Conversations with the company ended in 2021, shortly after a disagreement over press materials invoking NASA, he said.

Asked by investigators why NASA refused OceanGate’s request to use its name in a media release, Jackson said, “It was the language they were using was getting too close to us endorsing. So it was, our folks had some heartburn with the endorsement level of it.”

As previously reported by ABC News, in some public statements, OceanGate suggested that its Titan submersible was designed and engineered with the assistance of entities such as NASA and Boeing. In statements to ABC News in the wake of the catastrophic implosion of the Titan, each entity described its role in the Titan submersible, or lack thereof, as more limited than sometimes stated by OceanGate.

Investigators also heard from a witness with Boeing regarding the company’s past dealings with OceanGate over a carbon-fiber hull during the hearing on Thursday.

Boeing entered an agreement with OceanGate in 2013 to conduct a preliminary feasibility study for a concept vessel, the Coast Guard said. Boeing was asked whether it was feasible to “have a design with a certain amount of buoyancy and safety factor,” Mark Negley, a materials and process engineer with Boeing, said during his testimony.

Negley said Boeing did not manufacture any parts for OceanGate or give advice on the type of carbon fiber to purchase, and was not involved in materials testing.

Negley said Boeing did not work with OceanGate on subsequent requests from the submersible maker.

“I don’t know [why] exactly, you know, I think maybe we were too expensive,” he said.

OceanGate suspended all exploration and commercial operations after the deadly implosion, which killed five people, including its co-founder, Stockton Rush.

The hearing on the incident began on Sept. 17 and is scheduled to run through Friday in North Charleston, South Carolina, though the proceedings might be impacted by Hurricane Helene, the Coast Guard said.

The main purpose of the hearing is to uncover the facts related to the implosion and to make recommendations, the Coast Guard said.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.