Investigative Reporter
There are 111 articles by Marc Perrusquia :
Memphis Police Department commanders gave Lt. Dewayne Smith a sensitive assignment — overseeing members of the controversial SCORPION unit — despite a checkered past that included giving unreliable testimony in a federal drug case. Additional Nichols’ video could be released, city attorney saysRelated story:
Though SCORPION already was affiliated with MPD’s larger Organized Crime Unit, all 35 of those officers were transferred to other parts of OCU.
With credibility on the line for members of the Memphis Police Department’s now-disbanded SCORPION unit, attorneys anticipate mass dismissals of criminal cases filed against citizens arrested by the unit.
The quick release of footage of the Tyre Nichols’ beating is an anomaly for MPD, which has not released video or other details in a series of officer-involved shootings since November.
Preston Hemphill, one of two MPD officers suspended in connection with the death of Tyre Nichols in addition to five officers who have been fired, was a member of the now-disbanded SCORPION unit, court records show. Seventh MPD officer relieved of duty as more personnel actions are ‘imminent'Related stories:
The unit identifies upticks in motor vehicle thefts and violent crime and then targets those areas with patrolling SCORPION officers.
The former Memphis police officer was one of five MPD officers who faced disciplinary action and later fired following a Saturday, Jan. 7, traffic stop that led to the death of Nichols, 29, three days later.
Fresh questions surface about a series of expunged burglaries linked to murder defendant Cleotha Henderson.
A lawsuit includes a claim that had a 2021 rape been properly investigated and had Cleotha Henderson been arrested, the abduction and murder of Eliza Fletcher could have been avoided.
Attorneys for the City of Memphis want a judge to dismiss rape victim Alicia Franklin’s lawsuit, contending MPD owed Alicia Franklin no duty to investigate to the extent she wanted.
In a legal twist in Memphis’ rape kit lawsuit, victims cite new evidence about DNA testing that could have been used to solve sexual assaults by strangers.
As the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation seeks millions of dollars to boost pay and fill crime lab staffing shortages, Memphis leaders look for answers in Nashville, Houston and other cities that built their own crime labs. A tale of two cities: How Nashville built the crime lab that Memphis couldn’tRelated story:
Following the murder of Eliza Fletcher, questions loom about MPD’s systems in investigating violent crime.
As rape survivors pursue a lawsuit accusing the Memphis Police Department of negligence, the city is asking a judge to exclude testimony of a former sex crimes detective who claims MPD failed to properly investigate numbers of cases.
Several sexual assault survivors showed up Thursday at the Shelby County Courthouse to listen to arguments in a lawsuit accusing MPD of negligence in the handling of thousands of rape cases over the course of decades.
Hearings will be held this week in a lawsuit filed in 2014 accusing the Memphis Police Department of negligence in the handling of thousands of rape kits.
An amended lawsuit contends Eliza Fletcher’s alleged killer avoided arrest for rape in 2021 despite implicating details that a second witness gave Memphis police days after the attack.
The amount of time needed to process a rape kit at TBI’s West Tennessee crime lab in Jackson ranged from 33 to 49 weeks over the past year. The statewide backlog was up to more than 950 kits awaiting testing as of last month.
As the woman who police think was raped last year by Eliza Fletcher’s alleged killer takes her story to a national audience on ‘Good Morning America,’ community leaders are demanding answers about law enforcement’s slow-moving investigation of the 2021 rape.
A new lawsuit against the City of Memphis alleges that MPD officers failed to follow up on leads from a 2021 rape and asserts a proper investigation might have prevented Eliza Fletcher’s death.
Exclusive: A woman who said she was sexually assaulted by Cleotha Henderson, aka Cleotha Abston, the same man accused of killing Eliza Fletcher, says Memphis Police Department didn’t make solving her case a priority. Report poses fresh questions about 2021 Cleotha Henderson rape inquiryRelated story:
As information emerges linking Eliza Fletcher’s alleged killer to a 2021 rape, the rape victim and two retired detectives are questioning what more could have been done to solve the case.
In September 2021, a woman told police Cleotha Abston abducted and raped her at gunpoint, yet Abston remained free until he was arrested earlier this week for Eliza Fletcher’s murder.
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says MPD should have acted more aggressively to solve the 2021 assault; DNA analysis was completed a few days after the disappearance of Eliza Fletcher. Eliza Fletcher’s alleged killer investigated in 2021 for rapeRelated story:
As comptroller urges ouster of Wanda Halbert, a new controversy emerges.