Federal trial of former Memphis officers in Tyre Nichols beating death pushed back 4 months
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A judge on Thursday postponed for four months the federal court trial of four former Memphis police officers charged with civil rights violations in the killing of Tire Nichols.
During a hearing, U.S. District Judge Mark Norris changed the trial date in the highly publicized police beating and death case from May 6 to September 9.
Norris made the change after attorneys asked for more time to effectively prepare their case, a process they say includes reviewing 800 gigabytes of video footage, documents and other evidence provided to them by federal prosecutors.
Stephen Ross Johnson, the attorney for former officer Emmitt Martin, told Norris that the officers’ right to a speedy trial was secondary to their right to a fair trial.
“There are a number of moving parts to this case,” Johnson said. “We just need extra time.”
Police video showed officers yanking Nichols from his car during a traffic stop on Jan. 7, 2023, after he was pulled over for alleged reckless driving. Nichols was pepper-sprayed and hit with a stun gun, but he managed to get away and run to his nearby home. Officers caught up with Nichols and punched him, kicked him and hit him with a police baton, video showed.
Nichols died in a hospital three days later. An autopsy report found that Nichols died from blows to the head, and the cause of death was homicide.
Memphis’ police chief has said the department could not substantiate any reason for the stop.
Along with Martin, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith fired after Nichols’ death. The five were indicted in September on federal charges that they deprived Nichols of his rights through excessive force and failure to intervene, and that they obstructed justice through witness tampering. They have also been charged in state court with second-degree murder.
Mills pleaded guilty to federal charges in November. Mills also plans to plead guilty in state court and could testify against his four former colleagues, who have pleaded not guilty.
Nichols was black. The five officers are also black.
Attorneys for the four officers have filed several pretrial motions, including efforts to drop charges, exclude expert witnesses and change the May 6 trial location.
Norris ruled last week against Haley’s motion to exclude expert testimony during the federal trial. Attorney Michael Stengel argued that prosecutors missed a deadline to say they were seeking expert testimony. The motion said prosecutors told Stengel that “the United States does not intend to introduce expert testimony at this time” but that they would advise him if that changed.
Stengel asked Norris to ban prosecutors from hiring experts to discuss Nichols’ cause of death, toxicology and DNA test results, whether the officers used unreasonable force and whether any “alleged force” against Nichols led to his injury or death.
Norris denied the motion after prosecutors made public a list of potential expert witnesses, including Memphis Police Department trainers who were willing to testify that the officers used force inconsistent with their training and failed to prevent their colleagues would hurt him.
Stengel responded Wednesday with a motion to exclude expert opinion on issues related to violence.
Meanwhile, defense lawyers have asked the judge to drop three charges, including use of excessive force, failure to render assistance due to “deliberate indifference,” witness tampering and obstruction of justice.
Norris also considered proposals to move the trial from Memphis or use an outside jury due to intense media coverage and the public release of video of the assault. Martin’s motion states that the atmosphere of the trial has been “completely corrupted by the press reporting.”
The criminal case is separate from the U.S. Justice Department’s “patterns and practices” investigation into how Memphis officers use force and make arrests, and whether the department engages in racially discriminatory policing in the predominantly black city.