MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Before a former Memphis police officer fatally beat Tire Nichols, leading to murder charges against him and four colleagues, Demetrius Haley engaged in a number of policy violations during a previous job as a prison guard and faced excessive force charges which his department considered unfounded or unsubstantiated. according to newly unsealed personnel files.
Demetrius Haley worked as a correctional officer for the Shelby County Division of Corrections jail from January 2015 to July 2020, when he resigned to join the Memphis Police Department.
While working as a corrections officer, Haley was charged with excessive force for using a chemical spray on inmate Cordarlrius Sledge in 2015, but an investigation found no violations of the department's use of force policy and the allegations were unsubstantiated. Records showed that Sledge was treated for a broken right temporal bone and a perforated eardrum. The incident prompted 34 inmates – the entire cellblock – to sign a letter to the corrections director asking for a response to the alleged abuse.
Sledge later filed a lawsuit against Haley and two other correctional officers, accusing Haley and another officer of beating him and a third of slamming his head into the ground. The lawsuit was dismissed in federal court when a judge ruled in favor of the officers on procedural issues in a summary judgment.
Haley was found in violation of the department's professionalism, ethics and conduct policies in 2015. Records show Haley gave confidential information to an inmate when he shouldn't have, and didn't report it when an inmate told him he planned to smuggle in contraband. . He was given a written reprimand and recommended to take a refresher course on the policy.
Haley was also investigated and cleared of wrongdoing after an inmate accused him of using unnecessary force during a search for contraband. Haley placed the inmate on the ground to restrain him after the inmate put contraband in his mouth and struck Haley in the shoulder with his elbow, the documents state. The inmate suffered a head wound, but investigators found the use of force was justified. Haley told investigators he did not intend to hurt the inmate.
Haley's attorney declined to comment on the newly released documents.
Haley's Shelby County personnel file was part of a collection of documents that a judge kept from the public in February about the officers charged in Nichols' death and the incident itself. The Associated Press and other media intervened in the criminal case against the officers in March to argue that the documents should be made public. At the beginning of last month, the judge released the files.
Most of the documents are in the hands of the city of Memphis, where officials have said they are still making court-ordered redactions so the files can be made public.
In March, the city announced plans to release an additional 20 hours of video and audio material about the incident, in addition to the findings of administrative investigations for the police and other departments, when the court intervened to ban it.
A May filing by Haley's attorney suggested the judge keep the county's personnel file sealed during the trial, arguing that media reports about the documents could fuel bias among potential jurors.
Haley, Emmitt Martin, Tadarrius Bean and Justin Smith have been acquitted of charges in Nichols' death in both federal court and state court in Tennessee, where they face second-degree murder and other state charges. A fifth former officer charged in the case, Desmond Mills Jr., pleaded guilty last month to federal charges of excessive force and obstruction of justice.
Nichols' beating in January, captured on police video, was one in a series of violent encounters between police and black people that have sparked protests and renewed debate about police brutality and the need for police reform in the US. The five former officers who were also charged are black.
The officers were caught punching, kicking and punching Nichols on camera on January 7. He died three days later.
__
Mattise reported from Nashville, Tennessee. Kristin M. Hall in Nashville contributed to this report.