TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Julia Wilburn on Sep 16, 2025

Memphis police officer Valandria McKinnie, who testified for federal prosecutors during last year’s Tyré Nichols trial, has recanted parts of her testimony in a new affidavit. The Commercial Appeal reports that McKinnie now says former officers Tadarrius Bean and Justin Smith were not present at the initial stop, did not provide information for her report, and were neither misleading nor dishonest. McKinnie also now is claiming that prosecutors’ questioning was misleading and pressured her to implicate Bean and Smith in witness tampering. Defense attorneys argue these revelations undermine the government’s case and that the tampering charge should be dropped, especially since a new trial has already been granted for Bean, Smith and Demetrius Haley.