MEMPHIS, Tenn. — 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 against the men.
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.”
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.
The Collierville Republican had served as the Tennessee Senate majority leader since 2007. He was first elected to the body in 2000, and his district included Tipton County and part of Shelby County.
