Two former Memphis Police officers sentenced in federal court for crimes related to the death of Tyre Nichols have been released from custody, pending their sentencing. According to Action News 5, Tadarrius Bean and Justin Smith were permitted to leave federal detention on house arrest with GPS monitoring, as the judge in their case evaluated their risk of flight to be low. Both had been found guilty of obstructing justice concerning witness tampering.
Conversely, Demetrius Haley will continue to remain in custody. Haley's offenses also include obstruction of justice but extend further to unreasonable force resulting in injury. In the wake of their convictions, Bean and Smith's $50,000 bond conditions were affirmed, while Haley's legal representative signaled intentions to seek release from a higher court, as detailed in coverage by FOX13 Memphis.
While found guilty of certain counts, they were notably not convicted of violating Nichols' civil rights. As per WREG, after the announcement of the verdicts, all three men were initially taken into custody by Marshals. The family of Tyre Nichols was present throughout the proceedings, and his mother, Ravaughn Wells, shared a "small sigh of relief" at the decision to keep Haley detained.
"Bean’s sentencing is scheduled for January 22; Smith’s is January 24," while Haley is scheduled for January 23, all in 2025. "But they all had some kind of part in my son’s death," Tyre Nichols' mother, RowVaughn Wells, told Action News 5, after the proceedings.
