Appeals court finds testimony on discrimination ‘virtually irrelevant,’ reinstates charges against Richmond man

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- A panel of Court of Appeals judges has reversed a ruling that advocated for the dismissal of charges against a Black Richmond man who said police discriminated against him when they initiated a traffic stop back in 2020.

The ruling, from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, found Keith Rodney Moore was not discriminated against when Richmond Police officers initiated a traffic stop on the vehicle he was driving in December 2020, reversing a district judge's decision to dismiss his charges and instead telling the lower court to reinstate the indictment.

That traffic stop was due to the vehicle having a known fraudulent temporary tag, according to a police spokesperson at the time. Moore tried to flee the stop, but when officers found and detained him, they found a firearm inside his vehicle.

Moore was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and indicted by a federal grand jury.

Those were the charges Moore and his lawyers tried to dismiss, claiming that Richmond police officers selectively stop Black people, leading to Moore's stop and charges.

In 2024, a U.S. District Court judge agreed to dismiss those charges, finding that the evidence presented by Moore demonstrated his arrest was the product of bias and that it represented a bigger issue of discrimination within the department.

But on Aug. 1, 2025, a three-judge panel decided to reverse that decision.

In their ruling, the judges said, "There is a complete absence of evidence that the officers acted with discriminatory purpose."

The judges' order also said nothing in the case suggests race played a role in the traffic stop, and that they expect the public would be surprised if the officers had not stopped Moore on that day.

The panel now remands the case back to the district court with instructions to reinstate the indictment.

In a statement, Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards said in part:

"This case and the confounding first ruling delivered a significant blow to the morale of our department ... We applaud the order of the court of appeals and encourage any interested person to read the order in full."

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District, which appealed the district judge's ruling, declined to comment on the reversal. The case will eventually be heading back to court for prosecution of Moore's indictment.