Federal judge’s theory about shooter who wounded his law clerk leads to new trial for officers in Tyre Nichols case
Three former Memphis, Tennessee, police officers have obtained a new trial on charges related to the 2023 beating death of a Black man because of allegations that the federal judge overseeing the case theorized that at least one of the defendants was a gang member and the gang was responsible for the shooting of his law clerk.
The decisions by U.S. District Judge Mark S. Norris of the Western District of Tennessee throughout the case were “deliberate and searching,” and none was inconsistent with the law, according to Chief U.S. District Judge Sheryl H. Lipman of the Western District of Tennessee.
But Lipman granted a new trial in an Aug. 28 order because “justice must satisfy the appearance of justice.”
Norris’ law clerk suffered a nonfatal gunshot wound to the chest during a car theft just days after the officers’ October 2024 conviction on charges related to the death of Tyre Nichols, according to a notice filed by the U.S. attorney before the sentencing hearing.
Memphis, Tennessee, police thought that juveniles were responsible for the crime, and federal investigators concluded that there was no federal link to the shooting to justify federal charges.
Prosecutors and an FBI supervisor relayed their conclusion in a May 30 meeting with Norris. During the meeting, Norris allegedly expressed his theory that at least one of the police officer defendants in the Nichols case was in a gang, that the gang was responsible for the shooting, and that the intended target was a different law clerk.
One prosecutor also alleged that shortly after the shooting, Norris said he couldn’t meet with Memphis, Tennessee, police to give a statement about the crime because the department was “infiltrated to the top with gang members.”
Norris recused himself from the case June 13, before the scheduled sentencing hearing.
The officers were charged following the death of Nichols, who ran from police after he was pulled over for speeding up to beat a red light in January 2023, according to coverage by the New York Times. Video showed that officers punched and kicked Nichols after they caught him.
The officers granted a new trial are Tadarrius Bean, Justin Smith and Demetrius Haley. They were convicted of obstruction for covering up the beating, according to an October 2024 press release from the Department of Justice.
Haley was also found guilty of three other charges: violating Nichols’ constitutional right to be free from unreasonable force, violating his right to be free from deliberate indifference to the medical needs of a person in custody, and conspiring to commit witness tampering.
Haley was accused of assaulting Nichols with two other officers, Emmitt Martin III and Desmond Mills Jr. Martin and Mills previously pleaded guilty to using unreasonable force against Nichols, resulting in his death. Haley was accused of running up to the scene and kicking Nichols after the traffic suspect had been beaten and pepper-sprayed by Martin and Mills, according to evidence cited by the DOJ press release.
Publications covering the decision include the New York Times, the Daily Memphian, WREG, NBC News and the Associated Press.
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