City wants Nichols civil case to proceed ‘expeditiously’
Attorney Bruce McMullen who represents the City of Memphis said the city has “a significant interest in moving this case forward towards closure.” (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)
Memphis wants the civil lawsuit from Tyre Nichols’ estate and family to proceed “expeditiously,” citing the city’s potential financial exposure to the case.
Three of the indicted former Memphis Police officers charged in connection with Nichols’ death have asked the civil case be stayed pending the outcome of their criminal trial.
In filings, the officers have said answering discovery in the civil case would be like forcing them to testify against themselves in the criminal trial. Two other defendants in the civil suit who are not indicted — former MPD Officer Preston Hemphill and former Memphis Police Lt. Dewayne Smith — have also asked for a stay.
On June 30, the City of Memphis opposed their motions but told a judge it would not object to a partial stay that allowed the three indicted officers — Emmitt Martin III, Demetrius Haley and Tadarrius Bean — to refrain from giving sworn testimony.
The city’s reasoning for opposing a stay stems from time — it wants the civil case to keep going and not get bogged down because of the risk to taxpayers.
“This lawsuit presents the potential for significant and uncertain contingent exposure to the City, and that uncertainty could extend through two, and possibly three, different City administrations. Moreover, the discovery could become difficult due to the passage of time and the fading memory of witnesses,” Bruce McMullen of Baker Donelson wrote in the city’s response.
McMullen said: “The City Defendants, thus, have a significant interest in moving this case forward towards closure, which would be impeded by a complete stay of the case.”
The city has filed amended financial statements that identify the lawsuit as a risk to taxpayers. It has not yet disclosed what it believes the risk to be.
Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci filed the case on behalf of Nichols’ estate and mother on April 19 and have asked for $550 million in damages.
The recent filings in the case point to another legal shoe-dropping — federal charges.
In their joint motion to stay, Hemphill and Smith noted how United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee Kevin Ritz had said Nichols’ death remained an open investigation and there was coordination between his office, the FBI and the Civil Rights division of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Topics
Tyre Nichols Demetrius Haley Tadarrius Bean city of MemphisSamuel Hardiman
Samuel Hardiman is an enterprise and investigative reporter who focuses on local government and politics. He began his journalism career at the Tulsa World in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he covered business and, later, K-12 education. Hardiman came to Memphis in 2018 to join the Memphis Business Journal, covering government and economic development. He then served as the Memphis Commercial Appeal’s city hall reporter and later joined The Daily Memphian in 2023. His current work focuses on Elon Musk’s xAI, regional energy needs and how Memphis and Shelby County government spend taxpayer dollars.
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