MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The federal case against former Memphis police officers implicated in the fatal assault of Tyre Nichols has taken an unexpected turn: three of them are set for a retrial due to potential bias from a judge’s post-conviction comments.
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Sheryl H. Lipman ruled that Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, and Justin Smith will undergo a new trial. All three were convicted in October 2024 for obstruction of justice through witness tampering related to Nichols’ January 2023 beating, which occurred after he fled a traffic stop. Two other officers involved accepted plea deals, thus avoiding trial.
Judge Lipman pointed out that Judge Mark S. Norris, who oversaw their trial, posed “the risk of bias” with comments about possible gang affiliations among the officers. This arose when Norris remarked in May that at least one former officer seemed to be part of a gang connected to the shooting of his law clerk.
Additionally, Lipman’s order noted that an assistant U.S. attorney remembered Norris claiming that the Memphis Police Department was “infiltrated to the top with gang members.”
Norris recused himself from the case in June, right before the sentencing that was set for the five involved officers. To date, he has not commented publicly on the matter.
If a new trial proceeds, it will force all parties, including the defense attorneys, prosecutors, the officers, and Nichols’ family, to confront the traumatic beating incident and the challenging legal struggles that followed. The timeline for this retrial remains uncertain, again flashing the spotlight on Memphis amid ongoing federal civil rights inquiries tied to its police force.
Here’s a breakdown of the key points surrounding the case.
Details on Nichols’ Beating
The night of January 7, 2023, officers forcibly removed Nichols from his vehicle, administering pepper spray and electrocution with a Taser. As he fled, the five officers, who were also Black, caught up with him and brutally assaulted him with demands to stop. Nichols pleaded for his mother during the incident, which occurred just outside his home.
Sadly, he succumbed to his injuries three days later.
Footage captured by a police camera showcased the officers casually mingling, chatting, and even laughing, neglecting Nichols as he grappled with his injuries. This video ignited severe criticism of the Memphis police, nationwide demonstrations, and fueled renewed demands for police reform.
Officers Fired and Charged
The officers—Bean, Haley, Smith, along with Emmitt Martin and Desmond Mills Jr.—were dismissed from the force. They faced a range of serious charges in both state and federal court including second-degree murder and civil rights violations. In federal court, Bean, Haley, and Smith were found guilty of trying to obscure the facts of the beating by omitting their direct involvement in accusing themselves and fellow officers of inflicting physical harm. They were later acquitted of more significant civil rights charges, but:
- Haley was convicted on charges of violating Nichols’s civil rights and of conspiracy to tamper with witnesses.
- Mills accepted a guilty plea in November 2023 regarding his role in the events, while Martin followed suit in August 2024.
- Crucially, both Martin and Mills circumvented a state court trial by agreeing to plead guilty early on.
Comments Prompt Changes in Oversight
Judge Lipman underscored that the U.S. Attorney’s Office was made aware of Judge Norris’s outburst regarding the incident involving his law clerk—a happenstance that came shortly after the federal trial concluded. Television footage maintained that the intended target was the former law clerk working on the Nichols case who Norris believed was visible to one or more of the accused during the trial.
Further comments revealed Norris’s lowered trust in the police department led to his distancing from the case altogether.
Bean, Haley, and Smith requested a new trial basis on claims of Norris’s biased viewpoint undermining their due process.
Judge Lipman’s Decision on Trials
Despite determining that Norris had conducted a fair trial, Judge Lipman announced the immediate need for a retrial due to the overwhelming “risk of bias.” She has instructed attorneys to outline which charges they believe warrant retrial, calling for a hearing on September 25.
Future Plea Bargaining Insights
According to Charles Geyh, a judicial ethics specialist at Indiana University, getting a retrial due to a perceived bias is exceedingly rare. Norris’ wide-ranging comments have made this particular case even more unique.
David Raybin, an attorney in Nashville familiar with police defense cases, speculated it’s likely there could be fresh plea deals offered to omit lower offenses, especially since the three former officers had only secured lighter federal convictions and were acquitted of the state ones.
“They might propose deals and enter negotiations anew,” Raybin observed, reinforcing the notion that the prosecution may see this as a persistent quagmire. “It’s possible that someone might express a sentiment to close this case down”, he added.
Geyh posed that there exists a “probable chance” that Judge Norris may publicly express regret or voluntarily become the subject of disciplinary scrutiny with potential repercussions forthcoming.
Norris was previously designated from other matters, including a substantial lawsuit concerning Nichols’s family against both the five officers and the Memphis administration.
The Ongoing Impact on Nichols’ Family
Although members of Nichols’ family, including their lawyer Ben Crump, haven’t spoken publicly about the newly ordered trial, they have consistently communicated the intense anguish surrounding his passing. Throughout the court sessions, Nichols’ mother and other family members stepped out whenever video footage depicting the beating was shown to jurors.
After the state trial acquittals in May, Crump remarked on the injustice depicting it as “the ultimate theft of his life” that denied his family rightful justice. “We are angered, and our voices cry against this travesty,” he added.
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Reporting by Mattise in Nashville, Tennessee.
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Correction: This version clarifies that Desmond Mills accepted a guilty plea in November 2023, not the previous year.
