Officers in Tyre Nichols civil suit ask for halt in case, say it could be 'prejudicial' to criminal case

Attorneys for four of the former Memphis Police Department officers named in a civil lawsuit filed by the family of Tyre Nichols, the motorist who was beaten by police and then died three days later, have filed motions requesting the federal case be put on ice until the criminal case is finished.

The lawsuit, which was filed in late April, names 11 people and the City of Memphis as defendants. Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, the family's attorneys, said the suit is seeking $550 million in damages when they announced it.

The civil lawsuit includes officers criminally charged and other officers who are not facing criminal charges.

Of the four now-former officers from the Memphis Police Department that filed motions to pause the civil case, only two have been criminally charged. Demetrius Haley and Emmitt Martin III, both facing criminal charges, filed their motions on June 16.

In those motions, they say that the civil case could be prejudicial to the criminal case, with Haley's attorney saying the defendant would be "ham-strung" to defend themselves in civil court without incriminating themselves in criminal court.

"Even filing an answer to the civil complaint could result in statements that could be used against the defendant in the criminal case," Haley's motion read.

Martin's attorney added that those statements would be "devastating" to a defendant.

Pausing the civil case, which alleges negligence at multiple levels of Memphis' police and fire departments, would include a freeze on civil discovery — including taking depositions, written discovery and requests for documents of a defendant — and any mediation efforts while the criminal case is ongoing.

The five officers who have been criminally charged and are defendants in the civil lawsuit are Haley, Martin, Tadarrius Bean, Justin Smith and Desmond Mills Jr. They each face one count of second-degree murder, one count of aggravated assault, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, two counts of official misconduct and one count of official oppression.

The two other former officers who filed motions to pause the proceedings are Preston Hemphill and former supervisor Dewayne Smith. Neither Hemphill nor Smith have been charged criminally.

In their joint motion, Hemphill and Smith cited the same reasons as Haley and Martin, but added that "additional criminal charges have not been ruled out" and that "federal criminal indictments are anticipated." The United States Attorney General for the Western District of Tennessee Kevin G. Ritz and his office are investigating the case, but have not hinted as to whether or not federal charges would be forthcoming.

"At this time, because it is unclear whether defendants Hemphill and Smith are the focus of these criminal investigations...defendants join defendants Haley and Martin's motions," their motion read.

Where does the civil lawsuit stand?

Most of the defendants in the civil lawsuit have filed motions to delay their responses to the initial complaint filed by Crump and Romanucci. The only responses to the lawsuit have come from former Memphis Fire Department employees Robert Long, JaMichael Sandridge and Michelle Whitaker.

The two emergency medical technicians, Long and Sandridge, both denied the lawsuit's claims that they did not provide adequate medical assistance to Nichols as he was leaned up against a cruiser after being beaten by officers. Long also denied, in his response, that he was required to transport patients with medical needs to an emergency room.

"It is impossible to transport a person or patient on a fire engine," the response from Long's attorney read. "Defendant Long was a passenger on a fire engine without transport capabilities."

All three former MFD personnel invoked qualified immunity, a type of immunity that protects government officials from being held liable in a civil case unless explicit constitutional rights were violated. It is commonly seen when lawsuits are brought against law enforcement agencies and first responders.

In Whitaker's response, she also asserted that even if she had "deviated from the standard of applicable professional practice to any extent whatsoever, which is expressly denied, such a deviation was not the proximate cause or proximate contributing cause of any injury suffered by [Nichols]."

All three said they acted in line with the standards of care outlined in their duties.

More: The death of Tyre Nichols in Memphis: What to Know

Neither MPD Chief Cerelyn "C.J." Davis nor the City of Memphis have filed a response to the original complaint filed by Crump and Romanucci. They have not signed onto the four motions to pause the civil case either.

The case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee and is slated to have a scheduling conference on Sept. 15. During a celebration of what would have been Nichols' 30th birthday on June 6, Romanucci told a reporter from The Commercial Appeal that the conference could happen earlier.

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: Officers criminally charged in Tyre Nichols death ask to delay civil case