MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The attorney for Desmond Mills Jr., one of the four ex-Memphis, Tennessee police officers charged in the beating death of Tyre Nichols, called for a change in policing amid the non-guilty plea by his client.
Mills, who grew up in Bloomfield, Connecticut, pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and other charges alongside in his first court appearance Friday.
Blake Ballin, the attorney for Mills, said the process must be “based on the facts and the law, and not the raw emotions that our country is experiencing.” The public should be patient and cautious in judging his client, he said after Friday’s hearing.
“Justice for Mr. Nichols will not be achieved at the expense of justice for Mr. Mills,” he said.
Ballin also said the nation's grief over Nichols' death “absolutely should be channeled into demanding change in the way that we police our communities.”
“It’s also vital that we extend these demands to the way that we treat minorities and people of lower incomes in our criminal justice system," Ballin said. "Let’s not forget that my client is a Black man in a courtroom in America.”
Mills has ties to Connecticut, graduating from Bloomfield High School in 2008.
In addition to Mills, authorities have charged Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, and Justin Smith in Nichols’ death.
The five officers were fired after an internal police investigation into the Jan. 7 arrest of Nichols, who died in a hospital three days later. His beating was caught on video.
The officers pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression. They are all out on bond. Their next hearing was scheduled for May 1.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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