MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Witness testimonies in the federal trial for three former Memphis officers accused of beating Tyre Nichols to death continued on Thursday with two ex-Scorpion Unit officers testifying that one of their colleagues has a history of excessive force. Kyle Coudriet was a member of Scorpion Unit 1 from November 2021 to December 2022, and was on the team at the same time as all five of the officers accused in the Jan. 7, 2023 beating of Tyre Nichols. Coudriet began his testimony by explaining what the Scorpion Unit officers called a "run tax," which he described as a term referring to the use of force officers used to punish arrestees for causing them problems. He said he had heard Demetrius Haley, Tadarrius Bean, and Justin Smith use the term and watched team members use "the tax" in the past. Prosecutors questioned Coudriet on two separate arrests that he was involved in while working on the Scorpion Unit with the accused officers. In July 2022 the Scorpion Unit arrested a man for allegedly taking a photo of himself pointing a gun at an officer while he was not looking. Haley and Emmitt Martin were among the officers on the scene. WEDNESDAY'S TESTIMONY: Paramedic describes ‘eerie’ Tyre Nichols scene: ‘Something was going on’ Coudriet said that after officers tackled the man in his apartment, Martin and Haley began striking him in the face and chest. He was thrown into a few sliding doors while handcuffed and then taken outside where he was punched in the face by Haley. Coudriet told the jury that before walking outside, the other officers on the scene were talking about their body cameras being turned off. Coudriet advised them that his was on and said "I can handle it." He said he was shooed away by another officer, but followed them outside. Coudriet admitted to covering his camera, uncovering it when Haley hit the man, and then covering it again, claiming that he "thought something like this would arise." "I was ashamed of not being able to stop the situation before it happened," said Coudriet. "I anticipated the retaliation. I did cover my camera in a situation when I shouldn't have." In November 2022, Coudriet, Haley and Bean were on the scene of a traffic stop that led to a felony amount of narcotics. The arrestee allegedly slipped out of his handcuffs and ran off. The officers chased the arrestee and tackled him. They attempted to get him into the squad car when Haley punched him in the face, claiming in his Response to Resistance report that the man was "uncooperative." Coudriet described the arrestee as "deadweight" and "a bag of bones" during the arrest. He said the man was showing "passive resistance" to the officers. Kathryn Gilbert with the prosecution had Coudriet read over Haley's RTR reports from both arrests. Coudret stated that both of the reports were inaccurate in some capacity. In both RTR reports, Haley attempted to justify the strikes to each arrestee by claiming they tried to spit in his face, and he "redirected" their faces to "prevent the spreading of disease." Coudriet informed the jury that a strike to the head or face is considered deadly force and is not permissible just because a suspect has attempted to spit in an officer's face. He said he read over both of Haley's reports, at his request, before Haley submitted them. Gilbert asked Coudriet why he did not notify anyone of the inaccurate information in the reports, and Coudriet stated his silence was due to a "fear of repercussions." Coudriet's statements to the FBI were presented to the jury. He admitted to lying in his initial statements about officers' use of force in the past because he was "scared." The prosecution also presented text messages between Coudriet and Bean, from when Martin was hit by a car in the line of duty in November 2022. Coudriet told Bean, "I know ya'll gonna give him that tax." Martin testifies he was ‘angry’ but Tyre Nichols was ‘not a threat’ During cross-examinations, Martin Zummach, Justin Smith's lawyer, mentioned that in each of Coudriet's interviews, he described Smith as "cool" and "calm." Gilbert asked Coudriet if he would describe striking and kicking an arrestee as someone having a "calm" and "cool" character. "No," said Coudriet. Zummach finished his cross-examination by asking Coudriet if his opinion of Smith still stands, to which Coudreit responded, "Yes." James Harvey, another ex-Scorpion Unit officer, took the stand on Thursday. Harvey was also on the scene of the two arrests prosecutors discussed with Coudriet. He admitted to watching Haley punch an arrestee in the face in July 2022, and seeing him, on video, do the same to another arrestee in November of that year. He told the jury that he did not report the incidents, and he lied in his statements to the FBI and in incident reports he wrote for both arrests. "I didn't want to be involved in it, and I didn't want to be considered an outcast," said Harvey. "Others would look at me like I am not one of them ... I was scared to speak up." Harvey will continue his testimony on Friday morning. Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, and Justin Smith will stand trial over the next two to three weeks on charges of federal civil rights violations, conspiracy, and obstruction in connection to Tyre Nichols’ death.