A former Memphis police officer convicted of federal civil rights charges in the beating death of Tyre Nichols will be released from custody after a new trial was ordered in the case, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Demetrius Haley will be released on bond ahead of a new trial in the January 2023 beating death of Nichols, U.S. Magistrate Judge Charmiane G. Claxton said during a hearing.
Haley had been in federal custody since he and two other former Memphis Police Department colleagues, Tadarrius Bean and Justin Smith, were found guilty in October 2024 of obstruction of justice through witness tampering in the January 2023 beating of Nichols after he fled a traffic stop. Two other officers involved in the beating pleaded guilty and avoided trial.
Bean, Haley and Smith were convicted of trying to cover up the beating by failing to say that they or their colleagues punched and kicked Nichols and broke police department rules when they did not include accurate statements about what type of force they used.
