ST. LOUIS — A former St. Louis police officer charged in connection with the beating of an undercover detective posing as a protester in 2017 vacated a plea deal and will have another trial later this year.
Christopher Myers was one of five officers charged in connection with the beating of detective Luther Hall. He was expected to plead guilty Tuesday to a misdemeanor and face no jail time or fines for his role in the assault.
On Monday, U.S. District Court Judge John Ross granted Myers' move to vacate the plea deal in favor of a May 2 trial.
Two juries have already hung on whether Myers intentionally destroyed Hall's cellphone during the assault to conceal evidence and hinder an investigation.
In both trials, Myers' attorney, Scott Rosenblum, argued that his client threw the cellphone after seeing blood on it and that it was impossible for Myers to know an investigation would commence because none of the other officers believed any policies were violated during the arrest.
The judge overseeing the case, E. Richard Webber, recused himself last week but did not say why.
Four other officers were also implicated in the assault, which Hall testified left him with permanent injuries. He testified during both trials against his former fellow officers, telling the court he had to have surgery to repair injuries to his spine, and a jaw injury left him unable to eat. That caused drastic weight loss.
One of the former officers, Randy Hays, has already pleaded guilty to violating Hall's civil rights. Judge E. Richard Webber sentenced Hays to 52 months in prison.
Former officer Bailey Colletta was sentenced to three years of probation for lying to the FBI about what she saw on the night of the assault.
A jury hung in March on whether former officer Dustin Boone violated Hall's civil rights, but a second jury convicted him. He was sentenced to a year in prison. Federal prosecutors were seeking the maximum 10-year sentence for depriving detective Hall of his civil rights.
