As last week came to a close, General Sessions Court Judge Bill Anderson became the first of a group of defendants to speak about a lawsuit filed against county criminal justice officials for bail practices. Anderson expressed concern over the lawsuit, calling the potential damages "extreme."
That same day, a judge in federal court ruled that Tyre Nichols' mother could have a conflict of interest in the civil suit against the city and would not be able to represent the interests of Nichols' son in settlement negotiations.
And funeral arrangements have been set for the officer killed in an Aug. 2 car crash.
Here's what was on the docket for the week of Aug. 5.
Shelby County judge unsurprised over bail lawsuit, says costs could be 'extreme' for county
Anderson on Aug. 2 was the first of the 16 defendants in a civil lawsuit over a recently enacted state bail law to speak to the media about the suit. And he said he was not surprised that it was filed.
"Frankly, I knew it had to come and I know from some remarks that were made yesterday by Sen. [Brent] Taylor that he knew it was coming," Anderson said. "No, I'm not a bit surprised. If (the state legislature) didn't realize that this was going to spurn a lawsuit of this magnitude, they were getting some bad advice."
He said he was unsurprised due to the fact that a number of legal cases have set the precedent for how bail should be set, which was the impetus for the standing bail order that was agreed to by a number of county officials the last time a lawsuit was threatened.
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"We did not [enter into the bail order] hastily," Anderson said, noting that it took well over a year for an agreement to be reached. "We researched every single bit of this order to make sure that we felt satisfied that it was legally, constitutionally sufficient, including that very phrase that we added to our hearings that require that we find out the defendant's ability to pay. That has been the law in this land for some time. It has been litigated. It has been litigated in Tennessee and upheld.
"Those magic words have to be in there in order to have a constitutionally sufficient bail-setting procedure, period. What this law did, when it passed, was it totally wiped that out."
Anderson also said he expects the damages to cost the county "millions," pointing out how expensive attorney's fees could be if the county loses the lawsuit due to Just City and the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee retaining attorneys from New York law firms.
"This litigation will do nothing except answer a question and cost a lot of money," he said.
Since Anderson and the other defendants were sued in their professional capacities, the county will have to represent them in this lawsuit. Though saying the county attorney's office is representing him and the other defendants, he said the Tennessee Attorney's General office could attempt to intervene in the lawsuit. Anderson said he had not spoken with the AG's office on the matter as of Aug. 2.
Federal magistrate says Tyre Nichols' mother needs to assign guardian to represent his son in civil case
U.S. Magistrate Judge Annie T. Christoff ruled on Aug. 2 that Nichols' son will need to be represented in the civil case being brought by Nichols' mother.
The ruling comes on the wings of a motion filed by attorneys representing the City of Memphis who argued that RowVaughn Wells has a conflict of interest in settlement talks due to Wells "pursuing claims in this case on behalf of both [the] minor child and herself."
Wells and her attorneys objected to the motion, saying that she has not acted in bad faith or prejudiced the child during the lawsuit.
"The city does not disagree with any of those points," the ruling read. "The basis of the city's request is instead that, because Wells has asserted individual claims, any recovery on those claims 'would be for her personal benefit and/or compensation, not for the benefit of the minor child.' The city posits that, 'given that the plaintiff's public request for damages is more than $500 million, it is fair to assume that Ms. Wells' claims make up some number in the millions of those damages.' Thus, any decision-making as to apportionment of those damages between Wells and minor child — for example, in settlement negotiations — would place Wells in a conflicted position."
Ultimately, Christoff ruled that there was a "reasonable possibility of conflict" and ruled in favor of the city's motion to appoint someone to represent Nichols' son.
Both parties in the lawsuit are to report to the court if an agreed representative was found by Aug. 16. If they do not reach an agreement, each party was directed to submit three candidates and allow the court to decide who will represent Nichols' son.
Funeral set for officer killed in car crash
Officer Demetrice Johnson, the Memphis police officer killed in a car crash in the early hours of Aug. 2, will have a funeral on Aug. 15, MPD said in a statement Wednesday.
The funeral will be at Oak Grove Missionary Baptist Church, at 7289 Highway 64, at 11 a.m. He will be buried after at Memorial Park Cemetery.
"The family of Officer Demetrice Johnson sincerely appreciates your prayers, comforting expressions, acts and deeds of kindness extended to them during their time of bereavement," MPD said in a statement posted to social media.
Johnson was killed in a car crash near Downtown Memphis. The driver of the car that collided with Johnson's cruiser also died and had been shot earlier that morning.
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The federal criminal case related to Nichols' death continues to move toward trial, though a number of motions will need to be sorted out before a jury is sat for the case.
That case was in court Monday morning and two additional pretrial conferences have been scheduled ahead of the Sep. 9 trial.
Many of the motions left to be ruled on pertain to which witnesses will testify and what evidence prosecutors will be allowed to present at trial.
Those same former Memphis police officers will be in state court Monday for a report date.
In the same courtroom, and on the same day, Ezekiel Kelly will be in for a report date. Kelly is accused of going on a shooting spree in September 2022 that left multiple people dead and injured. The chase crossed state lines before he was arrested in South Memphis.
Last Friday a Shelby County Circuit Court judge ruled that 73 officers with the Memphis Police Department would be allowed to join the legal battle over a new rank instituted by the department. The city opposed the officers joining, arguing that their interests should be represented by the police union.
Attorneys for the union said they believed they were capable of representing the officers, but added that they did not oppose their joinder motion.
After about an hour of arguments, Judge Damita Dandridge said the officers had an interest in the litigation because their employment and potential promotions were at stake.
The lawsuit now features three parties — the Memphis Police Association, the City of Memphis and 73 officers — even as the officers' position on the rank is similar to the union's.
The case is now set to proceed to arguments over whether the arbitrator who originally ruled in favor of the union exceeded his authority in doing so.
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This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Judge unsurprised by bail lawsuit, funeral set for officer killed in crash | On the Docket
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