By Daniel Trotta
(Reuters) -Three former Memphis police officers who were convicted on federal charges related to the beating death of unarmed Black motorist Tyre Nichols have each been granted a new trial.
U.S. District Judge Sheryl Lipman on Thursday ordered the new trials after finding that another judge held communications with federal prosecutors without defense lawyers present, giving the appearance of possible bias.
While finding that all of Judge Mark Norris’ rulings were “deliberate and searching” and that all of them were consistent with the law, Lipman said a new trial was needed to “satisfy the appearance of justice.”
The same three officers who have been granted a new federal trial were acquitted of second-degree murder and all other charges in a state trial earlier this year
Police video showed that five Black officers kicked, punched, pepper-sprayed and struck Nichols with a baton as he cried out for his mother on January 7, 2023. Nichols, 29, an avid skateboarder, photographer and father of a young son, died in a hospital three days later.
The video provoked outrage, revealing the latest in a series of police killings of Black men in the United States.
Demetrius Haley was convicted last year of two counts of civil rights violation and two counts of witness tampering in the federal case, while Tadarrius Bean and Justin Smith were each convicted of one count of witness tampering.
The other two officers who were charged in the cases had pleaded guilty and were excluded from Thursday’s ruling.
Emmitt Martin III and Desmond Mills Jr. agreed to sentences of not more than 40 and 15 years, respectively, but have yet to be formally sentenced pending the outcome of the other cases.
Nichols’ family has filed a $550 million federal lawsuit against the city of Memphis.
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; editing by Donna Bryson and Leslie Adler)
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