Ex-Memphis police officers in Tyre Nichols federal criminal case will go to trial in 2024

The five now-former Memphis police officers charged with violating Tyre Nichols' civil rights will have a federal trial set for May 2024.

The five men — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin, Desmond Mills and Justin Smith — had their first federal report date Thursday afternoon. Judge Mark Norris originally targeted March 2024 for trial but pushed it back due to scheduling conflicts for the defense attorneys.

The five officers were indicted in federal court Sept. 12, months after being indicted in state court. They each face four charges: one count for depriving Nichols of his right to be "free from the use of unreasonable force by a police officer," one count of deliberate indifference to Nichols' medical needs and a failure to render aid, one count of tampering with evidence in an effort to cover up their crimes, and one count of intentionally omitting material information and providing false and misleading information.

The case, according to federal prosecutor David Pritchard, was a death penalty eligible case, but the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Tennessee will not pursue that. The maximum sentence the five former officers face is life in prison.

There is no parole in the federal system.

Attorneys for the officers also have filed motions to have the conditions of their pretrial release adjusted, with one attorney, Michael Stengel, asking that they be allowed to communicate with each other so long as they do not discuss the federal case.

Stengel, who represents Haley, also said he did not want his client to accidentally violate the terms of his release by unknowingly speaking to someone who could be a potential witness. An example of that, he said, was when a current officer with the Memphis Police Department called Haley to "check up on him." Stengel said he does not know if that officer will be a witness, but pointed to that as a potential problem.

In court Thursday, the five former officers each sat in a different row of seats around the courtroom. Smith sat closest to the attorneys, on a side where the public could not sit. Bean sat in the first row on the right side of the courtroom, Mills sat in the first row on the left side, Martin sat in the second row on the left and Haley sat in the fourth row on the left. Each was asked to raise their hand by Norris when their attorneys introduced themselves.

Federal civil case will not go to trial until 2025

A scheduling order from Norris, who is also the judge in the civil case filed by RowVaughn Wells — Nichols' mother — against the officers, Memphis Fire Department personnel, the City of Memphis and MPD Chief Cerelyn "C.J." Davis, set the civil trial for Jan. 17, 2025.

The scheduling order in the civil case came after Norris granted a stay in the civil case for the five criminally charged officers, and denied the stay for former officers Preston Hemphill and Dewayne Smith. The City of Memphis opposed the stay.

"At the outset, the court denies the indicted and non-indicted defendants' requests for a stay of 'all proceedings' insofar as they define 'all proceedings' to also include plaintiff's claims against the defendants who do not want a stay," Norris wrote in the ruling.

More: Shelby County judge considering trying ex-Memphis officers separately in Tyre Nichols case

A stay for those criminally charged was granted in part, with Norris writing that "while the court applauds the attempts by various parties to strike an appropriate balance between the timely advancement of the claims in this matter and the indicted defendants' Fifth Amendment rights, these compromises open an avenue of discovery that would likely entangle the court in discovery disputes that would result in considerable delay."

As for Hemphill and Dewayne Smith, Norris ruled that since the two have not been indicted Norris "cannot compare the extent of two cases' overlap," and that a stay will not be granted for them.

Other than the five criminally indicted officers, the civil case is to proceed on schedule. The five officers are also to submit a status report about their criminal cases on Nov. 1, and every 60 days after that.

Lucas Finton is a criminal justice reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Lucas.Finton@commercialappeal.com and followed on Twitter @LucasFinton.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Federal criminal trial for Memphis cops in Tyre Nichols case set