Judge Orders Retrial for 3 in Tyre Nichols Case

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. US District Judge Sheryl 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, the AP reports.

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 US District Judge Mark Norris, who presided over the case and the trial, recused himself days before the sentencings for the five officers.

• The judge: Lipman cited a notice filed by the US 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."
• Gang allegations: Norris met with the US 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 US 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 US 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.

• Defendants' motions: 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." Haley's lawyer wrote that "Norris made the gang statements on at least two occasions, demonstrating that it is a firmly held belief, not an off-hand remark."
• Thursday's ruling: 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.