Major Payout Likely In Tyre Nichols Beating Case, Experts Say

It's hard to sue the police and win, but the fatal beating of motorist Tyre Nichols at the hands of Memphis police in January was so egregious and highly publicized that experts say the city is likely facing a big settlement.

With five officers having already been fired from the city's police force and charged with second-degree murder over the incident, and Nichols' family being represented by some of the same attorneys who secured a $27 million settlement from the city of Minneapolis over the death of George Floyd, experts say the facts and the law both weigh heavily towards a massive payout.

"I think you're going to see the largest… civil rights violation settlement in the history of Memphis," said Arthur Horne, a Memphis-based plaintiffs' lawyer who has brought multiple actions against the local police department in police misconduct and shooting cases.

Read more of Daniel Connolly's reporting in Law360.