City appeals key piece in Tyré Nichols’ case
Attorney Bruce McMullen represents the City of Memphis in Judge Jim Kyle’s Shelby County Chancery Courtroom on Aug. 30, 2022. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)
Editor’s Note: After this story published, the City of Memphis did appeal a piece of U.S. District Judge Sheryl Lipman’s September ruling.
During the final few moments of a court hearing Wednesday, Oct. 29, U.S. District Judge Sheryl Lipman paused, wondered aloud for a moment, smiled and asked attorneys for the City of Memphis and Memphis Police Department Chief C.J. Davis a question.
She asked if she was about to face an appeal.
Bruce McMullen, the Baker Donelson partner and private attorney for the city, said he was not prepared to answer the question and then added it was a good question for Lipman to be asking.
Neither McMullen nor Lipman exactly specified what the city would be appealing. Last month, Lipman denied most of the city’s motion to dismiss the civil rights lawsuit brought by the family and estate of Tyré Nichols, the man beaten by Memphis police officers Jan. 7, 2023.
Lipman dismissed some counts but kept most of the major counts against the city intact, meaning the municipality and city taxpayers continue to face a potential major legal liability. She also denied Davis’ claims for qualified immunity, a legal shield that protects public employees unless their behavior clearly violates a constitutional right.
“Plaintiff has plausibly alleged that Chief Davis violated constitutional rights in her supervisory role as MPD Chief. Having satisfied the first prong of the qualified immunity analysis, the Court turns to the next prong, whether the constitutional right was clearly established at the time of the alleged violation. The right to be free from excessive force is clearly established,” Lipman wrote Sept. 30.
McMullen smiled when asked for comment outside the courtroom Wednesday afternoon and deferred comment to Deputy City Attorney Odell Horton Jr. Horton told three reporters it was nice to see them.
On Wednesday evening, McMullen filed a notice that he is in fact appealing part of Lipman’s September ruling to the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. The appeal is on behalf of Davis in her individual capacity.
Lipman’s question and McMullen’s guarded response came at the tail end of a status conference in the sprawling civil rights case. The two main sides, attorneys for Nichols’ estate and the city and Davis, have spent much of the year wrangling about certain aspects of discovery.
Federal court judge Sheryl Lipman sits in her chambers Oct. 4, 2021. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)
Lipman began the hearing Wednesday warning all sides about civility and urged the parties to pause and reflect before sending each other emails.
She gave the city a Nov. 7 deadline to hand over pieces of MPD internal investigations it had not yet handed over.
Topics
Tyre Nichols Memphis Police Department 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.
Want to comment on our stories or respond to others? Join the conversation by subscribing now. Only paid subscribers can add their thoughts or upvote/downvote comments. Our commenting policy can be viewed here.