A police training expert testifying as a defense witness in the trial of three former Memphis officers charged in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols acknowledged that kicks and punches to Nichols’ head were unnecessary and excessive.

Former Memphis police officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith are pleading not guilty to their seven-count indictment from the state, which includes second-degree murder.

Defense attorneys for three former Memphis Police Department officers continued to question expert witnesses on the fifth day of trial.