MEMPHIS, Tenn — Attorneys representing the family of Tyre Nichols are responding to a motion by the city of Memphis to keep the city out of a $550 million civil lawsuit.
In the motion filed Monday, Aug. 14, 2023, attorneys representing Nichols’ family said, “The liability here extends far beyond those officers, through the ranks, and up to the City of Memphis, itself.”
It continued, “The City of Memphis tolerated the unlawful and unconstitutional conduct of the SCORPION Unit with deliberate indifference to their known misconduct."
It added that Chief C.J. Davis "overstepped her Constitutional limits by giving unconstitutional directives to her officers, which were therefore official policies given her role as final policymaker."
The motion alleges Davis instructed SCORPION to:
- Focus on an all-out strategy of seizing Memphis Citizens and their property through traffic stops in derogation of the Fourth Amendment.
- Take property from Memphis citizens without a valid Constitutional basis “even if [the case] gets dropped in court.”
- Deprive citizens of their property without due process, without legal basis, and in disregard of their constitutional rights.
- Disregard and violate the constitutional rights of Memphis citizens through unlawful and baseless searches and seizures and the use of excessive force.
- Employ ambushing, aggressive harassing, and searching Memphis citizens in public.
- Omit written reports if they engaged in searches without finding drugs or weapons to maintain a stronger “hit rate” on stops.
- Engage in unconstitutional traffic stops and employ aggressive police tactics to achieve quotas.
In July, the city of Memphis filed a motion attempting to stop the civil suit filed by Nichols' family and estate. The city's motion stated that they believed Nichols' death following a January stop in Hickory Hill was the result of five rogue police officers. They stated in the motion that they believe that the City of Memphis, as a whole, did not have a hand in Nichols' death.
The five former Memphis Police Department (MPD) officers charged with second-degree murder in connection with Nichols' death are Emmitt Martin III, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith, Desmond Mills Jr. and Tadarrius Bean.
The $550 million lawsuit filed by Nichols' mother — RowVaughn Wells — blames officers for his death and accuses police chief Cerelyn "CJ" Davis of "turning a blind eye" to MPD's SCORPION unit's "aggressive style of policing" even before Nichols' assault.
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.