MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A judge ordered a new trial Thursday for three former Memphis police officers who were convicted of federal charges in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, after defense lawyers argued that another judge who presided over their trial was biased in his belief that at least one of the men was in a gang.
U.S. District Judge Sheryl H. Lipman issued the order for a new trial for Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith, who were found guilty in October 2024 of obstruction of justice through witness tampering in the beating death of Nichols after he fled a traffic stop.
Two other officers, Emmitt Martin and Desmond Mills Jr., also were charged, but they pleaded guilty before the federal trial.
Lipman took over the case in June after U.S. District Judge Mark S. Norris, who presided over the case and the trial, recused himself days before the sentencings for the five officers.
In a statement shared by his judicial office Thursday, Norris said, “Because of the code of judicial conduct, I cannot make a statement on this matter.”
New trial based on judge’s comments
In her order, Lipman cited a notice filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office saying Norris expressed a theory that at least one of the officers charged in the Nichols case was in a gang.
The notice discussed an incident in which Norris’ law clerk was shot in the chest during a car theft days after the trial ended. The clerk was staying at the home of another law clerk who had previously worked for Norris on the Nichols case, it said.
The notice also said that police investigators believed a group of juveniles committed the shooting; that Norris wanted those responsible to be held accountable; and that he “evidenced reasonable frustration with the police investigation.”
Norris met with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and an FBI agent, who explained why no federal charges would be brought in the clerk’s shooting.
During the May 30 meeting, Norris indicated that he believed at least one of the former officers was in a gang and that it was responsible for the shooting, the notice said. It also said the U.S. Attorney stated that Norris told those present that the clerk “had been seen by one or more of the Defendants during the trial.”
An assistant U.S. attorney who attended the meeting also said she remembered that, shortly after the law clerk was shot, Norris told her he could not meet with any member of the police department to give a statement because the department was “infiltrated to the top with gang members,” the notice said.
Allegations of bias
Bean, Haley, and Smith filed motions seeking a new trial, arguing that Norris was biased and violated their rights to due process by presiding over the case.
Smith’s lawyer said there was no “suggestion or one hint in the federal discovery process or the federal trial that any defendant or any member of the Memphis Police Department was in any way affiliated with an illegal street gang either through membership or relationship.”
Haley’s lawyer wrote that “Judge Norris made the gang statements on at least two occasions, demonstrating that it is a firmly held belief, not an off-hand remark.”
Lipman found that while a review showed Norris’ decisions throughout the trial were “sound, fair, and grounded firmly in the law,” a new trial is necessary “because the risk of bias here is too high to be constitutionally tolerable.”
A date for the retrial has not been set. Lipman ordered lawyers to submit positions on what charges they believe need to be tried.
Smith’s attorney, Martin Zummach, said Lipman “did the right thing.” Bean's lawyer declined to comment, and Haley's attorney did not immediately respond to a request. Memphis police also declined to comment.
Mixed verdict in 2024 trial
Bean, Haley and Smith were found guilty of trying to cover up the beating by failing to say that they or their colleagues punched and kicked Nichols and broke police department rules when they did not include complete and accurate statements about what type of force they used.
Bean and Smith were acquitted of more serious civil rights charges, however.
Haley was found guilty of violating Nichols’ civil rights by causing bodily injury and showing deliberate indifference to medical needs and also conspiracy to tamper with witnesses.
Bean, Haley and Smith were acquitted in May of all state charges, including second-degree murder.
Martin and Mills pleaded guilty in federal court last year to violating Nichols’ civil rights by causing death and conspiracy to witness tamper. They did not stand trial in federal court with their former colleagues.
Martin and Mills also avoided a state court trial after reaching agreements to plead guilty. Both testified in the federal trial, and Mills took the stand in the state trial.
The officers were part of a crime suppression team called the Scorpion Unit that was disbanded weeks after Nichols died. The team targeted illegal drugs, guns and violent offenders, and it sometimes used force against unarmed people.
The Tyre Nichols case
On Jan. 7, 2023, officers yanked Nichols from his car and then pepper-sprayed and hit the 29-year-old Black man with a Taser. Nichols fled, and when the five officers, who also are Black, caught up with him, they punched, kicked and hit him with a police baton. Nichols called out for his mother during the beating, which took place steps from his home.
He died three days later.
Video of the beating captured by a police pole camera also showed the officers milling about, talking and laughing as Nichols struggled with his injuries.
It prompted intense scrutiny of police in Memphis, nationwide protests and renewed calls for police reform.
Norris was confirmed as a U.S. district judge in West Tennessee in October 2018 after being nominated by President Donald Trump. Previously the Collierville Republican served in the Tennessee Senate including as majority leader.
The Associated Press
