MEMPHIS, Tenn. — During a hearing on April 8, 2024, the judge in $550 million civil lawsuit against the City of Memphis in Tyre Nichols' death agreed to allow the plaintiffs to call 30 witnesses when the case goes to trial.
On March 29, attorneys for Nichols' family filed a list of the people they expect to take the stand in their suit.
The lawsuit filed by Nichols' mother blames former Memphis Police officers for his death and accuses Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn "CJ" Davis of "turning a blind eye" to the department’s SCORPION unit's "aggressive style of policing" even before Nichols' assault.
A judge set the civil trial for Jan. 27, 2025. A pretrial conference is set for Jan. 17.
Those who could possibly take the stand, according to the March 29 filing, include:
- Nichols’ parents RowVaughn and Rodney Wells
- Nichols’ brothers Lenge Dupree and Michael Cutrer
- Nichols’ sister Kenyana Dixon
- MPD Chief CJ Davis
- MPD Assistant Chief Shawn Jones
- MPD Assistant Chief Donald Crowe
- The five former officers charged in the case, along with the two other MPD officers who were also fired
- The three Memphis Fire Department emergency medical technicians who were fired for failing to render aid
- Two Shelby County Sheriff's Office deputies who went to the location after the beating and were suspended for five days for policy violations
- Other MPD officers, emergency personnel who were at the location the night Nichols’ was beaten
- MPD officers who served in the SCORPION unit
- MPD employees with Memphis Police’s Real Time Crime Center
- Employees with SkyCop, Inc.
- MPD Deputy Chief Michael Hardy
- MPD Colonel Sharon Cunningham
- Former MPD Director Michael Rallings
- Former MPD Major Sam Cochran
- Former MPD Lieutenant Brian McNamee
- Former MPD Lieutenant Alvin Davis
- Former MPD Lieutenant Chester Striplin
- Former MPD academy instructor James Lash
- Shelby County District Attorney General Steve Mulroy and other ADAs
- Several Memphis residents with previous experiences with the SCORPION unit
- Doctors and medical personnel who treated Nichols following the beating
- The Shelby County Medical Examiner’s Office
- Neuropathology and toxicology experts
- Civilian witnesses to what happened that night
- Former Atlanta Police Department Chief George Turner
- Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) investigators
The civil trial is set to follow separate trials on state and federal charges for the former MPD officers charged in Nichols’ death. Emmitt Martin III, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith, and Tadarrius Bean have pleaded not guilty to state charges of second-degree murder, assault, official misconduct, and kidnapping. They also face federal charges alleging they used excessive force and lied about the beating.
The trial on the state charges is set for August 12, 2024. A trial date is set for Sept. 9, 2024, on the federal charges.
One of the five officers originally charged, Desmond Mills, pleaded guilty to state and federal charges, with a recommendation of 15 years in prison.
Nichols was beaten Jan. 7, 2023, after a traffic stop that was caught on video, and he died three days later. Nichols died of blows to his head, and the manner of death was homicide, an autopsy report released May 4 showed.
The five former officers who were charged were also part of the so-called SCORPION unit, a crime-suppression team police officials disbanded after Nichols' beating.
In July, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it's launching a civil rights "pattern or practice" investigation into the Memphis Police Department and the City of Memphis.