Federal judge to rule on admission of Tyre Nichols character evidence, separate trials

With just over four months before trial is scheduled to begin for the four officers charged with violating Tyre Nichols' civil rights, a federal judge is now set to rule on whether certain evidence will be admitted to trial.

Tuesday morning's hearing followed months of sealed filings over the contents of Nichols' car the night he was stopped by Memphis police officers. The original filing by attorneys representing the officers accused of fatally beating Nichols, which was not sealed at the time, alleged Nichols had a hallucinogenic substance in his car along with stolen debit and credit cards.

After that allegation was made in October, federal prosecutors moved to have all subsequent filings sealed. They also filed a motion to limit evidence that would attack Nichols' character, arguing that Nichols' mental state was irrelevant to the current case and that officers could have only acted on what they knew when they beat him in January 2023.

Whether or not the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation vehicle index of Nichols' car will be entered into evidence was the longest-argued motion at Tuesday's hearing. Federal Judge Mark Norris did not rule from the bench, so any ruling will be made via a court order.

Defense attorneys argued that the former Memphis police officers who have been charged in the case could lose credibility, should they decide to testify, without the index being entered into evidence. Stephen Ross Johnson, one of the attorneys representing Emmitt Martin III, said that the index can corroborate what the officers perceived in the moment, with another attorney saying the evidence "completes the picture."

Why does this ruling matter?

Since the beginning of the criminal cases, both state and federal, defense attorneys had briefly alleged that Nichols was high the night he was beaten.

Johnson also said he was not arguing that Nichols deserved to be beaten, but said that the evidence would remove doubt about the amount of force officers thought was needed to subdue and detain Nichols.

Another attorney, Kevin Whitmore, said that Norris' ruling could impact whether his client, Tadarrius Bean, is able to testify. Whitmore argued that Bean could testify to what he saw when interacting with Nichols, but that his credibility could be harmed on cross-examination by prosecutors if the index were not admitted.

The prosecution Tuesday argued the evidence should not be admitted because, whether or not it existed, it would not have been known to police officers at the time they pulled Nichols over and beat him.

In emphasizing that point, Forrest Christian, a prosecutor with the U.S. Department of Justice's civil rights division, said this interpretation of federal law could be both a benefit, and a detriment, to the defense and prosecution. Christian gave the example of an officer having what was thought to be a gun pointed at him, firing and killing that person, only to find out the person shot was carrying a water gun.

Under the defense's theory, Christian said, the officer would immediately be guilty because — in hindsight — the man was not carrying an actual weapon. In using that hypothetical, he said the arguments made by the defense went against the spirit of entering this type of evidence.

In audio captured by body-worn cameras the night Nichols was beaten, MPD officers could be heard saying that Nichols started fighting with officers after he was pulled over. Officers repeated that he seemed very strong and must have been on some type of substance.

Nichols' autopsy report, and toxicology reports within it, show that Nichols had a blood-alcohol level of .049%, well below the Tennessee legal limit of .08%. The reports also show Nichols had a trace amount of marijuana in his system. Psilocybin, the hallucinogenic substance defense attorneys alleged was in his vehicle, was not listed in that report.

More: Interim MPD chief said she enforced pretextual stop ordinance. Document shows otherwise

Related: City of Memphis subpoenas DA's office records, communications between Nichols family, DOJ

When asked for comment about the contents of Nichols' car and the allegations levied against Nichols in the filings, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said "the information previously released as part of our investigation is the extent of what we are able to provide." That did not include any reference to drugs or stolen credit and credit cars.

The defense team for the officers on Tuesday did not claim that Nichols deserved to be treated with excessive force but said the evidence was essential in showing that the accused officers felt they needed to act with that amount of force. They argued this evidence should be admitted because it lends credibility to what the police were perceiving in that moment.

Other motions argued Tuesday

Defense attorneys also argued two different motions to dismiss. The first motion requested counts one and two of the indictment be dismissed, with Johnson arguing that the statutes were unconstitutionally vague, a claim Norris seemed skeptical of.

Counts one and two of the indictment alleged excessive force and deliberate indifference against the officers.

The second motion to dismiss requested counts three and four of the indictment be dismissed. In arguing this, Johnson said that the specific, factual actions laid out in the indictment did not adequately explain the federal government's position.

This was also met with skepticism by the judge, with federal prosecutor Kathryn Gilbert saying the indictment provided "far more notice than required" of what the prosecution's arguments would look like.

The final motion heard Tuesday morning was whether defendants would each be tried separately. The motion also asked for separate trials for each count of the indictment. Defense attorneys said this would be needed as evidence introduced for one defendant, or for one charge, could be prejudicial to another.

Gilbert also rebuked this assessment, saying that a jury could simply be instructed on how to weigh evidence. The jury, she said, could also be told what evidence could not be considered for each defendant, and for each count of the indictment.

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

Nell Rainer is a news intern with The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Federal judge to rule on admission of Tyre Nichols character evidence