Federal criminal trial in Tyre Nichols case pushed back. Here's why and when it will be

Lucas Finton, Memphis Commercial Appeal
·2 min read

The federal criminal trial for the officers charged with violating Tyre Nichols' civil rights during a traffic stop and subsequent beating will be pushed back four months, a federal judge ruled Thursday.

The delay in the trial comes after attorneys for former Memphis police officer Emmitt Martin filed a motion requesting more time. Martin's attorneys said in the motion filed Wednesday, and in court Thursday, that the additional time is necessary to adequately prepare for trial.

"We want to make sure this is not a record infected by error and we want to make sure this is done right the first time," Stephen Ross Johnson, one of Martin's attorneys, said in court Thursday.

The motion was unopposed by any of Martin's co-defendants and was also unopposed by the U.S. Attorney's Office that is prosecuting the case. The new trial is set for Sept. 9, with defense attorneys and prosecutors saying they anticipate the trial to last about three weeks.

U.S. Attorney General for the Western District of Tennessee Kevin Ritz answers questions from the press as Assistant U.S. Attorney General Kristen Clarke, head of the Department of Justice’s civil rights division, looks on during a press conference announcing that an indictment is pending in federal court for the five now-former Memphis police officers involved in the Tyre Nichols case in Memphis, Tenn., on Tuesday, September 12, 2023.

The federal trial date being pushed back will also impact the criminal case making its way through state court, which has been originally set for mid-August. State prosecutors have said that they would like to have the federal case completed prior to the state trial, but Johnson said it is his understanding that the state trial has a backup date in late October.

Questions about a potential venue change also were raised in federal court Thursday, with Judge Mark S. Norris asking questions about the three motions for a change of venue that are currently pending. The latest of those motions, filed Wednesday, included an internet survey done by a contractor who concluded a jury trial in the Western Division of the U.S. Court for the Western District of Tennessee, located in Memphis, would be prejudicial to the defendants due to media coverage.

The alternative location offered was the Eastern Division, which is located in Jackson.

U.S. Attorney Kevin G. Ritz can be seen speaking about results from their targeted crime reduction operation during a press conference involving federal and local partners on Friday, October 20, 2023 at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Downtown Memphis, Tenn.
U.S. Attorney Kevin G. Ritz can be seen speaking about results from their targeted crime reduction operation during a press conference involving federal and local partners on Friday, October 20, 2023 at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Downtown Memphis, Tenn.

Those surveys are normally conducted via random phone calls to ensure a random sample is taken, but this survey was conducted over the Internet due to time constraints.

Since the newest venue change motion had not yet been viewed by federal prosecutors thoroughly, they could not make a decision about objecting to a potential change, and Norris did not rule on the motion. He did, however, request that a phone survey be conducted.

Lucas Finton is a criminal justice reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Lucas.Finton@commercialappeal.com, or (901)208-3922, and followed on X, formerly known as Twitter, @LucasFinton.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Tyre Nichols federal criminal trial pushed back to September 2024