Mark Norris Federal

Mark S. Norris, a U.S. District Judge in Memphis, Tennessee, presided over the federal trial of three former Memphis police officers — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, and Justin Smith — convicted in October 2024 of obstruction of justice through witness tampering in connection with the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols. After Norris's law clerk was shot and robbed during an October 2024 home invasion, an assistant U.S. attorney recalled Norris telling her the Memphis Police Department was "infiltrated to the top with gang members," and Norris separately raised, at a meeting, "the risk of bias" by commenting that at least one of the convicted officers could be in a gang that may have been responsible for the shooting.

Norris disputes suggesting the officer was in a gang. He recused himself from the case before sentencing. Defense lawyers cited the remarks in seeking a new trial, and in August 2025, Chief U.S. District Judge Sheryl H. Lipman granted a new trial for all three officers, finding Norris had shown possible bias.