MEMPHIS, Tenn — The lawyer of one of the five former Memphis police officers accused of killing Tyre Nichols has filed a court motion hoping to stop federal prosecutors from calling expert witnesses to the stand during the trial.
If successful, such a motion would lead to a courtroom ban on witnesses sharing testimony regarding accusations that Demetrius Haley used excessive force. It would also ban these experts from speaking about toxicology or DNA test results in regards to Haley.
Ultimately, Haley and his lawyer seek to hold the court to a statement they said was previously made regarding there being no expert witnesses planned for the trial.
A court document states that Haley "prays" the court grants his motion, prohibiting the United States from seeking to introduce evidence after an "explicit statement prior to the discovery deadline that it didn't intend to introduce any such testimony."
Essentially, with the trial approaching next May, Haley's lawyer argues that he wouldn't have enough time to prepare a defense should prosecutors change their minds about using expert witnesses.
In the court filing, Haley's lawyer — Michael Stengel — specifically argues that "the timing of disclosure is critical to effective preparation and presentation" of his client's defense.
"Counsel needs time to evaluate any opinion disclosed, likely be required to retain a consultant with the same or similar background as the proposed witness to review the opinion, and determine whether a defense opinion witness is a necessary part of his case," Stengel said in the motion. "In addition, timely disclosure would promote adherence to the scheduling order and enable sufficient time for any pre-trial hearing necessitated by a Daubert motion challenging any such proposed opinion testimony."
A "Daubert motion" being a type of motion that is made to exclude the presentation of an expert's testimony to a jury in a court case.
To Stengel and Haley, this includes expert testimony opinion "on the alleged unreasonableness of any force used against Tyre Nichols, whether any alleged force used against Tyre Nichols resulted in bodily injury, whether any alleged force used against Tyre Nichols resulted in his death, the cause of Tyre Nichols’ death, toxicology test results and DNA test results."
