After less than one full day of deliberations the jury found Larry Nevers not guilty of second degree murder but guilty of involuntary manslaughter.

While we were grateful that this jury found no criminal intent in Officer Nevers’ actions, we were extremely disappointed in the involuntary manslaughter conviction.

Of course we question why. How did this jury find it grossly negligent to hit a man in defense of ones life? Was this just a quick political compromise? Were they influenced by the blatant lies and continual innuendoes and accusations of bad intent made by Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Douglas Baker? Were they misled when certain evidence was withheld from them? How was it that they concluded that a 24 year veteran with an outstanding and unblemished record of service to the good and decent people of Detroit, acted in a grossly negligent way when he sought to defend his life and did so without even causing a fracture?

At one point in the short deliberations, jurors asked to review the testimony of DPD use of force expert Deborah Robinson. Did they believe that Larry Nevers could have used Robinson’s pressure point techniques to subdue the violently resisting Green? Did they miss the part where they were informed that Nevers had NO SUCH training?

It is always tempting to blame the jurors for a bad verdict, but I would at least like to ask each one of them what they felt Larry Nevers should have done differently when Malice Green grabbed his gun. What should Nevers have done when Green began swinging a shiny metallic object at his head?

I hope at least one juror will come forward and explain their verdict.  

The following is a very brief review of the trial itself. Following complaints made by prosecutor Baker, we were not allowed to speak to the press in the last few weeks. Mr. Baker also used our website to falsely accuse Larry of racism to Judge Boykin early in the trial proceedings, so we have refrained from printing any updates. In the days to come I hope to have some time to rewrite the following review and add some important information the juror were not privy to . For now, Larry has been granted bond and will be allowed to stay home until the sentencing date of May 16^th, 2000.  

Please note that I have not attempted to cover all the testimony of each witness. There is a more thorough summary of the testimony of most of these witnesses under the link "Walter Budzyn Retrial Review".

March 27, 2000 Opening Statements and Prosecutor’s case:

RALPH FLETCHER

Ralph Fletcher testified that Larry "asked" (not ordered) Green for his license. (Prosecutor Baker asserted in opening arguments the Nevers forcefully "ordered" Green to show his license "just because he wanted to know who he was".) Fletcher admitted charging people to let them use his place to smoke crack cocaine. He said he was paying rent at the time of the incident although there was no evidence that this was true. Baker called the dope house "Mr. Fletcher’s home". The jurors were not told about 2 drugs raids on the dope house or that Fletcher himself was arrested and ticketed there for "loitering in a place of illegal business."

March 28, 2000

RALPH FLETCHER

Fletcher had little to say against either Larry or Walt. Fletcher said when he and his friends saw Walter struggling with Green, they calling to Larry saying, "Get your partner, what’s up with your partner, better help your partner, etc." Fletcher said Larry hit Green once in the knee with his flashlight as he walked past him. (Larry testified that he did hit Green in the knee to stop Green from kicking him). Fletcher said Larry told them all, "You can leave now", at one point, and they did. He said he saw Larry then go around to the other side of the car and swing twice at Green but that's it. He said he didn’t actually see the blows hit anything, but he said he heard it and he knew it didn’t sound like it was hitting metal. Prosecutor Baker did not call any of the other street witnesses to testify except Gregory Sims who happened by after the incident was over, and Beverly Vanderbilt, a neighbor.

DR. BADER CASSIN

Dr. Cassin testified instead of the Dr. Jiraki. Cassin was Jiraki’s boss and was the Chief Medical Examiner of the Wayne County Medical Examiner’s officer at the time of the incident. Although Cassin said he agreed with the stated cause of death as "blunt force trauma", he also firmly stated that cocaine was not to be disregarded as a part of the cause of death. Cassin acknowledged that Green had no fractures, but said he had bleeding and swelling of the brain which led to death. We know from the previous testimonies of other doctors at past trials that this bleeding and swelling, if there was any at all, was very minor and could not have killed him alone. Cassin was never really asked how minor or serious this bleeding was. The visible bleeding shown in the photos was only in the subarchnoid space around the brain not in the brain tissue itself. Cassin really did not do a very good job of explaining the mechanism of death or what actually caused Green to die.

Cassin did say he saw a darkening of the "gray matter" of the brain (this is still an other layer of the brain, not the inner white matter). Cassin said this was evidence of bleeding in the brain. At one point Cassin pointed to a straight line on the brain and claimed that there was a slight puffiness there indicating that the brain was swollen.

SCOTT WALSH

Walsh testified that he saw Larry hit Green only once in the head with a mild flick of the wrist. Walsh’s testimony did not match his partner Hardy’s at all. He admitted Larry was out of breath.

March 29, 2000

SCOTT WALSH

LEE HARDY

EMS tech Hardy testified that Green was basically harmless and out of it while Larry and Lessnau ruthlessly beat the daylights out of him. Neil Fink was able to get in testimony that perhaps Hardy's plans to try for a duty disability inspired some on his exaggerated story. Although we had more evidence of Hardy's possible motives, we were not allowed by Judge Boykin to use it. Instead Boykin then allow all the EMS technitians to be recalled so they could testify as to how they were harassed after the incident. We were not allowed to discuss harassment Larry Nevers received.

Hardy said he had never been off work before the incident except for injuries. (We know this is not true. Hardy was off for 7 months just before the incident and had been trying to get a duty disability for stress. One psychiatrist said he was unable to work and one said he could work. He did not get the retirement at that time, the jurors were not given this information. ) Hardy admitted that he only worked 2 or 3 days after the Green incident then took a leave of absence and soon applied for a duty disability retirement due to stress from the Malice Green case and other things. He eventually received $61,000 from the city of Detroit, about 3 years, salary.

PATRICIA GREEN

CHARLES URBANCYK

Evidence technician Charles Urbancyk, testified that he observed a spattering of blood inside the car across the windshield and a few small spots on the seats, most of the blood was outside the car on the driver’s side which would correspond to Larry’s version of the events. Urbancyk found cocaine on the dashboard but called it suspected bone chips, and didn’t know it had later tested positive for cocaine. Prosecutor Baker tried to emphasize that it was a very small amount. In Michigan ANY AMOUNT of cocaine is a felony.

March 30, 2000

RAINELLE LOGAN

Testified that she was called to the scene after the altercation. She spoke briefly to Larry and he told telling her about an assault he had been involved in. On cross examination it came out that thist was a case were Larry had been accused of brutality. (The Billy Polk case, which Larry explained later.) Logan said she didn’t know anything about the Green incident at the time, but when she noticed blood on Larry and then in the street, she asked Larry if someone had been shot. She said Larry told her that a suspect had been resisting arrest and he couldn’t get him under control and he had to hit him. Of course Baker wanted to know if Larry told her his gun was grabbed, which he had not. He did not tell her any of the details. She said he was talking in a quiet low voice.

BEVERLY VANDERBILT

Vanderbilt was a neighbor. She didn’t see the actual altercation. She testified that she saw Green in the street having a seizure while uniformed officers were trying to handcuff him. She said they were having trouble because of the seizure. She agreed with the description of Green stiffening his arms and repeatedly pulling them away from officers. It is apparent that what she really witnessed was Green resisting arrest.

Said she heard Larry tell someone "I popped him".

Baker came up with some weird thing he called "posturing" that he described as "getting rigid as a result of brain damage". None of the EMS or the doctors confirmed that such a thing occurs.

April 3, 2000

SGT. MYLES

GREGORY SIMS

Paid a girl on the street to give him information about the case. Admitted that he had described the girl in first trial testimony as "one of those girls" who will do anything for money for crack. Sims didn’t see the incident at all but testified about the tossing of the toy gun. His story matched Larry’s as harmless joking. There was no testimony that they knew Green was dead at the time.

SIDNEY FERRIS

Detroit Police Department Dispatcher Sidney Ferris testified about Walter Budzyn’s call for help. When Walter first made his call asking for "a car at 23^rd and Warren right away", Ferris thought he was in trouble and sent all car in the area to the scene. Both sides stipulated that that was Walter’s voice on tape. The prosecutor tried to imply that because Walter called back and said that they "weren’t in any kind of trouble, we just need a car right away", that there was no altercation, etc. Walter’s voice was fast and urgent and Ferris obviously thought he was in trouble as did others who heard both calls. Ferris discussed the difference between an "officer in trouble or down" and an "officer needs assistance or backup". In the former situation ALL available cars rush to the scene. (According to Walter’s retrial testimony, he made the second call to prevent this from happening and possibly causing unnecessary danger to responding officers.)

DEBORAH ROBINSON

Testified on use of force. Gave the distinct impression that she did not want to agree with the defense, but her answers were truthful. Demonstrated a pressure point technique call "come-along" , which was pointless because it was intended for use on a suspect who is standing not laying down. Although Baker repeatedly portrayed Green as being placid and unresisting, Robinson said that if he was not complying with orders to release what was in his hand or to get out of the car, then force would have to be used to compel him to comply. She agreed that is was important for an officer to know what was in a person’s clenched fist. Although she said she had worked all over the department, she had been teaching for a long time, so it is likely that her other experiences were very short.

Robinson spent a lot of time on various other pressure point methods, but of course this was irrelevant since Larry had no training in these methods. I’m not sure this was made clear at any time in the trial however.

Robinson did testified that officers in 1992 were issued only a gun and a nightstick. (Larry explained that he has not even seen his nightstick in years.)

April 4, 2000

DEBORAH ROBINSON

See above.

ALBINO MARTINEZ

Martinez and Lewis both testified that Larry hit Green 2 to 4 times, with a flicking motion, and that Green was not doing much of anything. However on cross examination, both these guys admitted that in their early statements to police and to the fire department, they had described Green variously as, kicking, squirming, struggling, wiggling around, moving around, resisting, not complying, etc, etc,. And that he had keys in his hand that he would not give up.

ROBERT MARCINKOWSKI

MITHYM LEWIS

Lewis gave a mild mannered testimony that claimed Green was practically in a stupor. On cross examination Lewis' 1st statement to the DPD was brought out and he was impeached with almost every line of it. Most of this had to do with whether or not Green was resisting arrest. Judge Boykin would not allow that statement to be admitted into evidence. He did instruct the jury that they could consider the testimony ABOUT the statement.

After Lewis’ testimony the prosecution rested their case. We asked for a directed verdict which was
denied of course even though there was NO testimony that Larry did not act in self defense which is one of the things that the prosecution is SUPPOSED to have to prove.

April 6, 2000

SCOTT WALSH

Scott Walsh was recalled to talk about how he was harassed after the Green incident. None of this harassment was attributed to Larry and the other EMT admitted that he had had positive feedback as well as negative.

MITHYIM LEWIS

ALL the EMS technicians testified that Larry was having trouble breathing.

DALE COLLINS

Testified briefly as to the dispatch tapes.

April 6, 2000 - Defense Case

ROBERT LESSNAU

The prosecution led off with Officers Lessnau. Lessnau said Larry looked completely exhausted when he arrived at the scene and that after he pulled Green from the car, Green was still violently resisting, trying to get up off the ground, pulling his arms away, kicking, squirming, trying to go into his pocket, etc, etc. Lessnau said Green was very strong and that he would have been UNABLE to handcuff him alone.

Lessnau came across very believable and strong and honest. He said it took several officers a couple of minutes to handcuff Green. Green kept tucking his hands under himself and each time Lessnau would pull his arm out Green would pull it away. Lessnau hit Green several times on the knuckles and Green finally dropped the keys, but then tried to go into his front pants pocket even though he was handcuffed by then. Lessnau removed a large pocket knife from that pocket (an illegal length – 4" blade). Lessnau saw no keys at first and said Larry appeared very tired and out of breath. Lessnau was able to pull Green out of the car but he said that Green tried to lock his foot or leg onto the steering wheel to prevent this. He said Green tried to get up as soon as he was placed on the ground.

Lessnau said Hardy was the only one who accused him of assaulting Green.

JAMES KIJEK

Kijek's testimony was almost as strong as Lessnau’s and he reinforced everything Lessnau said.

Kijek was very firm in stating that Green was acting crazed and like he was on drugs. He was very strong and difficult to control. Kijek said Green was in a "physical rage". Kijek said firmly, "There was no seizure". Kijek said he did not see the keys as they were being removed from Green’s hand, but that was because he was focusing on Green’s legs for a minute. He said it took 30 or 40 seconds to handcuff Green. At the first trial he said this also and said he then looked "back" at Green’s hands and they were empty. Kijek said he had to pin Green’s leg down with his foot to keep him from kicking. When Baker tried to get Kijek to say that Green’s motions were not "purposeful", Kijek firmly refused, says that Green was definately responding to him and intentionally trying to get up and to kick and to resist the handcuffing and to keep his hand closed. When Green finally chose to open his hand he then immediately began trying to go into his pocket where the knife was.

I think both Kijek and Lessnau said that although they saw something shiney and metallic in Green’s clenched fist, they could not tell it was keys until they were removed from his hand.

Both Kijek and Lessnau said Larry was NOT involved in the handcuffing.

Kijek repeatedly described Larry as appearing completely exhausted. He said that Larry staggered backward in exhaustion when Lessnau pulled Green away from him.

Kijek’s description of Larry tripping on Green seemed very innocent and Larry later affirmed that although he didn’t remember it, it could have happened. Kijek has said that had been standing facing away from Green, and that he turned and stubbled into Green’s head slightly with his foot.

Kijek said he thought Green was on drugs because he was so strong.

Kijek had gone to the hospital with the EMS and he said they stopped at one point and spent 5 mins on the side of the road doing CPR. (This is against EMS policy but was not brought out in the trial.)

April 10, 2000

JAMES KIJEK CROSS EXAM

James Kijek did very well. Answered with confidence. Baker got nowhere.

DR. LUCY RORKE

Neuropathologist Dr. Rorke was very firm in stating repeatedly that Green DID NOT die from blunt force trauma to the head. Rorke clearly explained how she examines a brain and what she looks for . She said swelling takes time.

She said there was no evidence that Jiraki had sliced the brain properly. She said only "chunks" were preserved. When Baker tried to make her say that Cassin or Jiraki would have been in a better position to make a judgment as to cause of death because they actually saw Green’s body during the autopsy, Rorke kept saying "only if they knew what to look for". Rorke strongly disagreed with Cassin on the cause of death. Baker was extremely rude to her and badgered her repeatedly. Rorke kept stating that Green DID NOT die from his "superficial" head injuries, but from a cocaine induced heart attack. Rorke acknowledged that Green had an enlarged heart and that this is a side effect of long term cocaine abuse.

Dr. Rorke strongly stated that Cassin was wrong about his interpretation of the darkening of the "gray matter" in the brain. She explained that the darkening was clear evidence of a heart attack of the type that Green had, which took a number of minutes. (Green did not die instantaneously, but was having heart arrythmias from the time he was transported until he died at the hospital. He suffered a cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital, but was revived to some extent at the hospital then died.) Rorke explained that during this heart attack period, Green’s blood was not getting the proper amount of oxygen and this caused the blood to darken in color and that is what Cassin saw. Rorke said this clear evidence of a heart attack was "still visible" in the brain tissue that had been preserved, when she examined it prior to the 1993 trial.

Later Dr. Lucy Rorke said the line on Green's brain that Dr. Cassin had claimed indicated swelling, should be "disregarded" since it was made from the saw used to cut the skull. She saw NO swelling.

Rorke said Malice Green would have died even if he had stayed home and watched tv with his mother that night, if he had been on cocaine.

At one point Baker showed a photo of Green’s scalp partially removed and tried to get Rorke to agree that there were more than 10 or 11 blows since there appeared to be injuries to the underside of the scalp. Rorke said she did not know if those injuries corresponding to injuries seen in other photos. This was confusing. I didn’t understand it myself until Larry’s testimony when he repeated the same thing when Baker tried to corner him. In short, those injuries seen on the underside of the scalp may have been the same ones we saw earlier. It was just not that clear. Of course this gave Douglas Baker the opportunity to accuse Larry of hitting Green 14 times although not one Doctor testified to that.  Remember this when you read the media version.

MIKE DONNENWIRTH

Donnenwirth is a police officer from Illinois who had had dealings with Green. Judge Boykin did not allow him to talk about other officers’ encounters with Green or about individual incidents. He was only allowed to talk about Green’s "reputation". He said Green had a reputation as a "fighter". He was not allowed to elaborate.   He said their dispatcher would warn them about Green when they got a call involving him. Although the newspaper said that Donnenwirth testified that Green had no convictions, that was not correct.  Donnenwirth only testified that he was "not personally aware" of whether or not his arrests had resulted in convictions. (Green had been arrested a number of times for things such as drug violations, assaulting a police officer and beating his wife. The jury was not told this.)   Baker sarcastically asked Donnenwirth if Green had ever "hurt" anybody. Donnenwirth replied, "only me", and was then allowed to briefly explain that on one occasion he removed Green from his car and handcuffed him, and when he put Green in his police car, Green kicked the car door into Donnnenwirth’s leg causing a bruise.

APRIL 11, 2000

LARRY NEVERS

Larry did very well. He admitted that he had spent his whole life in Detroit, that he was close to retirement, etc. He testified that he had loved being a cop. Loved protecting the law abiding people of that crime ridden neighborhood. Had earned over 100 awards and citations. 2 for lifesaving.

It could have been made more clear that Larry had NO training in the pressure point techniques that Robinson had demonstrated, no pepper spray, etc.

Larry was permitted to briefly tell the Billy Polk story and the Book Cadillac story. He related the Billy Polk story to the incident Rainelle Logan talked about, but it was sketchy so I wouldn’t be sure the jurors understood it all completely. Logan had said that Larry mentioned to her a case where he had been sued for brutality. Billy Polk had sued Larry’s PARTNER for allegedly punching him and Larry was dragged into it because they were partners. The jury deliberated only 5 minutes before acquitting them both. This same Billy Polk was arrested by Larry only 2 nights before the Green incident. Billy had just murdered his father-in-law and Larry had confronted him, still armed and raising the weapon toward Larry. Larry talked him into putting the gun down and submitting peacefully to arrest. We were not allowed to show the jury the award he received for that incident. Nor was the jury told that Larry was nominated Officer of the Year for his handling of that case.

Larry said that losing his gun in the past and almost having it used against him, (the Book Cadillac incident) was something he thought about every day. He said that when Green grabbed his gun, his thought was that he WAS NOT going to let that happen again. Larry said he had no intention of killing or hurting Green, but ONLY to stop him from getting his gun and to control him.

APRIL 12, 2000

LARRY NEVERS’ CROSS EXAM:

Prosecutor Baker did nothing, but make accusations and try to intimidate Larry. There were no facts there, just accusations.

The papers claimed Larry "changed his story" on a "key" issue when he said he flagged EMS down for help AND because Green was hurt. He added the part about Green being hurt only at Baker’s suggestion.

Baker beat the toy gun issue to death. In my opinion it fell flat, but what effect it had on the jurors I don't know. It might be asked, "If Larry carried a drop gun, why didn’t he use it?" And what does this toy gun have to do with anything? Baker accused Larry of doctoring his run book to document this incident which is incredible since Baker knows for a fact this is not true. Two years ago at his retrial, Walter mentioned that the name was written in Larry’s run book. Weeks before this trial the prosecutor was given a photocopy of the page, made before Larry added the new notes on the kid. Baker knew exactly what was originally written in the book, and what was added later, and yet he still had the gall to blatantly lie to the jury about this.

When Baker snidely asked Larry why the toy gun was missing, Larry said he "wasn’t surprised about ANYTHING in this case disappearing." Where’s the cocaine? Where are the flashlights? Where’s the piece of paper? Where’s the matchbook? Where’s Green’s license? Where’s the keys? The prosecutor’s office or the police have apparently "lost" all of these things, yet again, the prosecutor had the gall to imply that Larry was lying. About the only thing they do still have is the large folding knife removed from Green’s pocket. Although the knife was 8" long the newspapers called it a "pen knife".

Although it was well documented that cocaine was found at the scene, Baker continued, throughout the trial, to get the jurors to believe that it did not exist or was planted. Walter Budzyn showed 4 rocks of cocaine to Officer Kijek at the scene then turned it in at the police station. Larry Nevers removed a rock of cocaine from Green’s hand and gave it to Walter to turn in. Evidence technician Urbancyk also found 2 small rocks of cocaine on the dashboard of Green’s car. Although he thought they were bone chips at the time, they later tested to be cocaine.

Baker was determined to get Larry to admit to hitting Green more times than he did. Baker kept saying "Well, didn't you hear the testimony that there were 14 blows?" Larry finally said, "Well, I heardYOUR testimony that there were 14 blows Mr. Baker."

Then Baker backed off and stumbled around for a second and then said, "Well ,what about Cassin’s testimony of 11 blows, you heard that didn't you?"

Larry then firmly repeated that he’d hit Green only 5 or 6 times which corresponded to the original coroner’s testimony. Larry said, "... Jiraki said repeatedly there were 7 linear injuries caused by a straight cylindrical object, and when he was pinned down, he said only 6, and that’s how many times I said I hit him, 5 or 6 times."

According to the first trial testimony, all of Green’s injuries were not necessarily flashlight blows and some could easily have occurred when Green was struggling on the ground during the handcuffing. The scrape on the cheek, for example, was obviously NOT a flashlight injury. However, Baker repeatedly referred to every INJURY as a BLOW. Neither medical expert was asked about this.

Baker’s question about why Larry didn’t turn his gun in to be fingerprinted backfired, but maybe was not clear enough for the jurors to catch. Larry explained briefly that he did not considered asking that the gun be checked for fingerprints because it is impossible to take fingerprints off the rubber grip of a gun.

BILL KUCYCK:

Testified that an officer should be VERY concerned if any civilian in an investigative stop has a clenched fist and refuses an officer’s request to open it. Kucyck described many different weapons that could be hidden in the hand. He emphasized that even an ordinary set of car keys can be used as a weapon and cause serious bodily harm. An EMS technitian had earlier described the keys sticking out from between Green’s clenched knuckles. 

FRED WALKER’S TESTIMONY:

Prosecutor Doug Baker’s entire case has been built on supposition and innuendo and telling the jury that Larry Nevers is a liar.. Among other things Baker repeatedly questioned why Larry did not tell anyone, shortly after the incident, the details of the altercation and that Green had grabbed his gun.

Larry has repeatedly stated that after Green released his gun, he began to swing a metallic object at Larry’s head and that was what Larry was then focused on. Several witnesses testified that Nevers repeatedly warned other officers that Green had something in his hand. When he was asked briefly afterward what happened, Nevers stated that the man was resisting arrest and he had to hit him. Larry also testified that once he was at the station he looked forward to writing a report, but that his attorney had told him not to. An independent Police Board of Review was denied him as well.

Attorney Fred Walker testified that within hours of Green’s death, he firmly instructed all the officers involved in the incident NOT to make any statements or give officials anything in writing. He said that had Nevers disregarded his advice, he would have refused to represent him. When Prosecutor Baker asked Walker what Larry had told him personally about the incident that night, Walker replied that Nevers had told him that Green "had his hand on my gun." When Baker pressed him, Walker insisted that as he recalled it, those were Nevers’ exact words: "he had his hand on my gun." So Larry did tell someone about the gun very soon after the incident.

For previous updates scroll down or click on date below:

March 20, 1998 - The jurors' reasoning.
March 19, 1998 - Verdict in.
March 15, 1998 - Why believe Budzyn?
March 13, 1998 - Jury deliberations continue.
March 11, 1998 - Closing arguments.
March 9, 1998 - Reichman, Humes, Maynard.
March 6, 1998 - Dr. Wetli, Massad Ayoob.
March 5, 1998 - Budzyn, Lynn Helton, Dr. Dragovic.
March 4, 1998 - Wolson, Duke, Gunther.
March 3, 1998 - David E. Balish, Toby Wolson.
March 2, 1998 - Knox. (to be added)
February 26, 1998 - Robert Knox, Rod Englert.
February 25, 1998 - Hardy, Hollins, Sims, Vanderbuilt, James, Avery, Cooper.
February 24, 1998 - Manuel Brown, Albino Martinez, Lee Hardy.
February 23, 1998 - Lt. Rice, Richard Padzieski, Mithym Lewis, Scott Walsh, Manuel Brown.
February 20, 1998 - Testimony of Teresa Pace.
February 19, 1998 - Testimonies of Dr. Cassin, Patricia Green and Ralph Fletcher.
February 18, 1998 - Opening statements.
February 13, 1998 - Jurors dismissed.
February 12, 1998 - Jury selection.  Review of previous trial's eyewitness testimony.
February 10, 1998 - First day of Walter Budzyn's retrial.   Malice Green's arrest record.

March 20, 1998

A devastating day for all of us with the conviction of Walter Budzyn for involuntary manslaughter.

Jurors declined to answers questions after the verdict was read, so we have no official explanation for their decision. Several possibilities exist:

1. The most obvious conclusion is that the jurors did NOT believe the EMS technicians who all testified that Walter did not hit Green and did not hold Green down. They did NOT believe the other police witnesses who all testified that Walter was not near Green at all. They did NOT believe Walter Budzyn. They believed only SELECTED PORTIONS of the drug addicts' testimonies, since they are the ONLY ones who claimed to have seen Walter hit Green or hold him down. 

2. The possibility exists that the jurors misunderstood the Judge’s instructions indicating that Walter could not be convicted of manslaughter on the basis of his FAILURE TO ACT. Perhaps they were influenced by Doug Baker's closing argument wherein he stated IN ERROR that Walter could be convicted of manslaughter if he merely failed to stop his partner (who was fingered by the defense as the guilty party.) 

3. Since the defense lawyers chose to portray Larry Nevers as the guilty party, this may have encouraged the jurors to believe that since they were partners, they must have acted together and therefore if Larry is guilty then Walter must be guilty to some extent also. Had the jurors been allowed to hear that cocaine was involved in Green’s death and that Larry struck Green in self defense, they may have had a clearer perspective on Walter’s role in the incident.

4. A real possibility exists that this was a compromise decision. Some jurors may have believed that Walter was innocent while others believed he was guilty of second degree murder whether the evidence supported that or not. Rather than have a hung jury, they may have felt that a manslaughter conviction would please everyone.

5. The jurors must have believed Doug Baker’s innuendoes and assumptions rather than listening to the facts.

Of one thing we are sure: the jurors must not have made their decision based on the physical evidence, since virtually all of it supported the innocence of Walter Budzyn. Only the testimony of the prosecution’s blood spatter expert went against Budzyn, and his own words nullified his testimony when he said that in order for his scenario to be accurate, the "door must have been open" or else it would have had blood on it. ALL WITNESSES AGREED THAT THE DOOR WAS CLOSED AT THAT TIME and the door had NO BLOOD on it.

While we are very disappointed in the verdict, we have found some consolation in the fact that Walter was found innocent of second degree murder. The verdict will be appealed.

On Friday the jurors asked to hear a replay of the audio tape of Walter Budzyn’s testimony. As I listened to this testimony along with the jurors, here are some of the thoughts that occurred to me about WHY WE SHOULD BELIEVE WALTER BUDZYN:

Walter Budzyn testified that he and his partner Larry Nevers pulled behind Malice Green’s car as it stopped abruptly in front of the building Ralph Fletcher and his friends frequently gathered at to smoke cocaine. Budzyn chased Robert Knox up the walkway alongside the building, then frisked him and walked him back to the curb. All witnesses agreed and no testimony claimed any impropriety occurred during any of this.

Budzyn testified that he frisked Knox and Fletcher. Several other witnesses said only Knox was frisked, but Fletcher himself agreed that Budzyn also frisked him lightly.

Budzyn said that Green was asked for his license. He walked to the open passenger door of his car, sat down sideways with his feet outside the car, then reached for the glove box with a closed right fist. All witnesses agreed.

Budzyn testified that he saw a rock of cocaine drop from Green’s clenched fist as he reached for the glove box. All witnesses believed that Green was concealing something in his hand. Most said they assumed it was cocaine. Teresa Pace, in her first statement to police, insisted that she saw the cocaine itself. Several witnesses saw Green reach for the glove box with a closed fist.

Budzyn testified that he grabbed Green’s wrist and ordered him to open his hand and give up the cocaine. Green refused to comply. All witnesses agreed.

Budzyn testified that Green kicked Budzyn in the left shin. As Budzyn turned sideways away from the kick, Green pulled back his arm and kicked Budzyn in the side of his right knee causing him to fall backwards into the car on top of Green as Budzyn continued to clutch Green’s arm. Budzyn had a cut on his left shin which was photographed by police. He was treated at a clinic several hours after the incident. In Pace’s first statement, she told police that Green was "kicking" and "struggling."

Budzyn said he dropped his flashlight as he was pulled into the car. He then grabbed Green’s arm with both hands trying to prevent Green from getting rid of or swallowing the cocaine. Budzyn testified that Nevers tried to assist him by hitting Green on the hands with his flashlight as they ordered Green to open his hand and give up the dope. All witnesses agreed they heard the officers ordering Green to open his hand. Some said they saw Nevers strike Green’s hand. They agreed that Budzyn was holding onto Green’s arm and that Green was pulling his arm back and refusing to obey the officers.

Budzyn said Nevers pried open Green’s little finger and another rock of cocaine popped out. Green began working his way across the seat and Budzyn shouted to Nevers that Green was trying to get out the driver’s door. Nevers then left the passenger side of the car and Budzyn continued to struggle with Green. All witnesses said that Nevers ordered them to leave, which they did. One witness said he saw Nevers leave the passenger side and go around to the driver’s side and strike Green once in the head. None of these other witnesses saw Nevers hit Green.

Budzyn testified that he continued to try to get Green under control and to hand cuff him, but was unable to do so. At one point Green hit Budzyn a couple of times in the back. Budzyn said he was falling between the seats and that he eventually lost his grip on Green’s arm. Budzyn said he called for "a car at 23^rd and Warren right away" on his prep radio, then the radio was knocked out of his hand. As he reached for it on the floor he heard the dispatcher ordering all cars to the scene. He retrieved the radio and called back saying he wasn’t "in trouble" (meaning that he was not severly injured), but needed a car "right away." These two calls were recorded by police and replayed in court. Budzyn’s voice was fast and urgent and confirmed what Budzyn testified he said.

Although all the witnesses testified that Budzyn hit Green repeatedly on the head with his flashlight inside the car BEFORE Nevers went around to the driver’s side of the car, all witnesses admitted that they did not actually see any blows connect. No blood was found on Budzyn or on the seat of the car where Green supposedly lay according to these witnesses. No blood was found on the inside of the Driver's door where it would also be expected.  No blood was found on Walter Budzyn’s flashlight.

Budzyn said he was certain the inside of the car was dark. Several witnesses said that they could see what transpired inside the car by the illumination of the car’s dome light, yet a police evidence technician testified that the inside of the car was dark and NO bulb was found in the dome light.

Budzyn testified that after Nevers came around to the driver’s side of Green’s car, he heard the door open and heard scuffling and two thumps. He also heard sirens. Since he was still facing backwards, he could not see Nevers. Budzyn said he was able to get out of the car at that point by grabbing onto the post between the front and rear passenger doors and pulling himself out. A smudge was photographed that night on the dirty post of the car. The size and shape of the smudge corresponds to a possible hand print.

Budzyn testified that when he got out of the car he first checked his weapon, then turned and glanced through the car to see what appeared to be Nevers holding Green up. Then he saw the light of Nevers’ flashlight come down and stop at Green’s head. Budzyn said he was not sure this was a "strike." EMS witnesses testified that they saw Nevers strike Green several times. (Nevers has consistently said that he alone struck Green when Green grabbed his gun, but this testimony was not heard at the current trial.)

Budzyn also saw a uniformed officer pull Green from the car. When he glanced over the roof of the car he saw EMS and several other uniformed officers standing around "with their hands in their pockets" and assumed the incident was over. He then searched in and around the car looking for the fallen cocaine as well as his flashlight and several personal items lost in the struggle. EMS witnesses either did not see Budzyn at all, or saw only a vague shadow of a person on the passenger side of Green’s car who appeared to be bent over looking for something. EMS witnesses and others confirmed that Officer Lessnau pulled Green from the car and that several other officers were indeed standing around doing nothing. While there were numerous witnesses at the scene by this time, NO WITNESSES SAW BUDZYN ANYWHERE NEAR GREEN AFTER THIS.

Only Wayne County Prosecutor Douglas Baker asserted that Budzyn planted cocaine at the scene. No witness suggested this, the 5 "civilian" witnesses all admitted using cocaine that evening, all believed Green possessed cocaine, and all said they heard Nevers and Budzyn telling Green to give up the dope. Other later witnesses said they heard Nevers say that Green threw something under the car, and 4 rocks of cocaine were placed into evidence at the homicide section by Budzyn just after the incident.

Only one blood spatter expert out of the five who testified, claimed that any of the blood specks found inside the car could have come from Budzyn’s flashlight. Even this expert testified that in order for Budzyn to have struck Green as alleged by the prosecution witnesses, the driver’s door would have had to be open or it would have had lots of blood on the upper portion of the door. All witnesses said the driver’s door was closed as Budzyn struck Green and yet NO blood was found on the upper portion of the driver’s door. All 4 of the other blood spatter experts agreed that all the blood specks found in the car came from outside the car on the driver’s side, confirming the testimony of others who said they only saw Larry Nevers strike Malice Green from outside the driver’s side of the car.

Only the prosecution alleged that Budzyn washed blood off himself and his flashlight. EMS said that Budzyn had no blood on himself, but asked for peroxide "for his partner." Witnesses say Nevers washed blood off his hands, but Budzyn did not. Only one witness said they saw blood on Budzyn’s hands, but many other witnesses contradicted this saying they saw no blood on Budzyn at all. Budzyn’s jacket was not confiscated by homicide officers because they saw no blood on it and when his flashlight was examined there was no blood found on it either.

Hopefully these are some of the things the jurors will take into consideration as they continue to deliberate on Monday.

Jurors have ended their second day of deliberations without reaching a verdict. They spent 5 ½ hours deliberating on Thursday and 4 hours today. Jurors requested the audio tape of Walter Budzyn’s testimony and listened to about 90 minutes of it this afternoon. Jurors have requested several other items included Walter’s log book and a dispatch tape. Deliberations will resume on Monday.

No court session was held yesterday. The defense rested its case Monday and the prosecution was allowed to present a final rebuttal today. Officer Dale Collins, currently the officer in charge of the Malice Green case, was called to the stand to generally contradict or minimize what several defense witnesses said earlier about how the case had been handled etc. Collins said that the blood spots on the windshield looked better in person than they did in photos; "homicide has no control over the disposition or the adjournment of a case," it is not unusual to take more than one statement from a witness; and that the silver ignition collar missing from Green’s ignition was still in the car. (The clear implication being that Budzyn’s swinging flashlight must have knocked it to the floor.)

While Collins was touted as a 26 year veteran of the Detroit Police Department, he admitted to Stanyar that he had only been a patrolman for one year and on a booster car for only 8 - 10 months. Collins also admitted that not every run was written in the officer’s log; the police department had some difficulty locating the Tempo for a while (I believe they lost the cocaine entirely although the jurors were not told this); and when asked about the suggestion to destroy Pace’s first statement he replied, "It’s not common. I don’t think that happened. That’s my opinion."

A police dispatcher was then called to testify that she was asked yesterday by prosecutors to listen to the master tape of all runs dispatched on November 5, 1992 between 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. and pick out any between dispatch and car 3-31. She said there were none about "a man with a gun." Doug Baker, as is his habit, began misquoting Walt, saying that Walt testified that he and Larry, "got" or "received" a run about a man with a gun "just before" the Green incident, and that led to the confiscation of the toy gun which Baker implied was a "drop" gun. When pinned down by Stanyar on cross examination, the witness admitted that all officers can hear all calls and she couldn’t say there wasn’t a "man with a gun" call dispatched to another car or earlier than 8 p.m. Stanyar quoted Walt correctly stating, "There was a run out" on a "man with a gun" "before" the Green incident. (Nevers and Budzyn responded to this call because they were in the area.)

Closing arguments began with prosecutor Doug Baker saying, "We’re not saying that they intended to kill him." Baker went on to do just as we suspected he would from day one, attempting to blur together the inconsistent testimonies of the 5 "civilian" (drug addict) witnesses into one "sort of" consistent testimony against Budzyn. Baker said they "may differ" as to where they were standing and other details, "but all say" Budzyn beat Green and "all say" Budzyn started it, etc. According to Baker’s creative summary of the testimonies, "no one saw drugs," and there was "no substantial fighting" by Green. Baker chose not to count Pace’s first statement and minimized the others.

Baker spent the rest of his allotted time whining about everything in general and asserting that Budzyn had concocted his story from start to finish. In 1993 Kym Worthy style, Baker sneered and exaggerated and used innuendo and misquotes in attempting to cast doubt on every aspect of the defense’s case. Baker asked the jurors how Budzyn could be three feet away from somebody "getting the life beat out of him" but not be involved. Although 4 rocks of cocaine were stipulated to as evidence, at one point Baker said, "IF he (Green) had cocaine in his hand…." Baker used Buzyn’s 19 years experience as a police officer to imply that he knew how to "say the right thing (lie) in a court room."

In short, Baker came up with an explanation for everything, even if he had to resort to total falsehoods to do it. Sure enough he used that infamous number "14" again; Ayoob was "not a real police officer himself;" Dr. Dragovic is "a man with a mission in this case;" only the prosecution’s blood spatter expert should be listened to; and Budzyn got the scrape on his leg from "jumping" into Green’s car. Baker’s wildest exaggeration materialized in regard to Teresa Pace when he said, "I feel bad when people go kicking and screaming into a lockup when they’ve done nothing wrong except be a material witness."

Baker concluded his argument by holding up a huge board with the WRONG jury instructions regarding the lesser charge of manslaughter. At this point both Judge Jackson and Carole Stanyar cryed out in protest with Stanyar jumping to her feet. The board was removed, the jury dismissed, and Stanyar requested a mistrial. Judge Jackson had explained earlier to the prosecution attorneys that "failure to act" was NOT part of the definition of manslaughter, but lo and behold, Baker’s board, in huge bold letters, stated that is was. While Jackson was very upset by this seemingly deliberate action on the part of the prosecution, he did not grant a mistrial, but said he would instruct the jurors about the matter tomorrow. While Judge Jackson’s handling of this trial had been generally very good, this incident reminds us vaguely of Judge Crockett’s similar response to the showing of the Malcolm X film at the first trial.   Meanwhile, prosecution attorney Donaldson hung his head and kicked the dirt and treated us all to the "Gee, Judge, I guess it was MY fault.  I just FORGOT to change the words on my poster," act.  Funny how he remembered every other trick in the book.

Mr. Howarth’s closing argument for the defense was all we could hope for. Howarth began by asking the jury NOT to consider race, but TO consider character. "If you are not sure" he said, "you must acquit."   Howarth proceeded then to directly and simply go over the testimonies of each witness in order, drawing attention to the main points of each.

Summary of some points:

Dr. Cassin: Said you would expect to find blood on Budzyn’s flashlight (there was none).

Fletcher: Standing closest, only saw Green being hit on the hands and couldn’t identify Budzyn in a line up.

Pace: Changed her statement: from "saw" cocaine to "assumed" it was cocaine, from "kicking and fighting" to "not resisting," and from "couldn’t tell where he was being hit" to "he was hit on the head."

Brown: Was positive the dome light was on. (There was NO dome light) Others said he wasn’t even there. Said he "assumed" Budzyn hit Green.

Knox: Said Budzyn only hit Green during the handcuffing. (Which everyone else said Budzyn took no part in.) Said he was "sure" Nevers and Budzyn had been regular partners for 4 years. (It was really only 3 weeks.) Was on cocaine (as were the others).

EMS technician Martinez: Did not see Budzyn hit or hold down Green, but only saw the lower portion of a man on the other side of the car.

EMS technician Lewis: Saw a person in the car who appeared to be looking for something (just a Budzyn testified).

EMS technician Walsh: Couldn’t tell if Budzyn was in a position to see Nevers’ blows and saw no blood on Budzyn.

EMS technician Hardy: Although Hardy’s testimony was exaggerated more that any other technician’s, even he said, "I have no idea" what Walter Budzyn was doing.

Lt. Aston: Ordered no clothes taken from Budzyn. (Because no one saw any blood on them.)

Lt. Robinson: Couldn’t "conceive" of an officer "diving head first" into a car under those circumstances (as the prosecution asserted).

Regarding checks to Pace from the prosecutor's office: A $315 check was made out to Pace in the name of Teresa Rice (not Pace) and was cashed by her without her signature. Pace declared she had no knowledge of a $180 check and a $100 check which were made out to her and cashed by Sgt. Rice who admitted forging Paces' signature on them.

Chief of Operations for the Wayne County Prosecutors office: Said the way Pace’s checks were cashed "sounds criminal."  He had different explantions for the various checks than did Pace or prosecutors.

Sgt. Rice from homicide: Said he got permission from Pace to sign her name, yet she denied it entirely.  (Rice was added to the case after all white officers were removed.)

Regarding the blood spatter experts: 4 of them with excellent credentials say the blood on the windshield was NOT cast-off. Only one (with lesser credentials) said it was cast-off. Why wasn’t Budzyn covered with blood as least from Nevers if he was participating?

Regarding Dr. Dragovic: Baker asked him to consider becoming involved in the Green case in December of 1992, but never called him back after his initial findings did not agree with the prosecution. If Green had been held in a headlock as described, there would have been much blood on Budzyn’s face chest, hands, etc. and there was NO blood on the driver’s door of the car where it would have been if Budzyn had struck the blows.  (There were other important points of disagreement, regarding cause of death in particular, that were brought up at the first trial only.)

Dr. Wetli: Explained how the combination of cocaine and alcohol in Green’s system could account for his crazy behavior.

Mr. Ayoob: Would not accept this case until he talked to Budzyn. He believed Walter Budzyn. Said it was preposterous to think that an officer would "dive" into a car.

Police Evidence Technicians: Found NO blood on Budzyn’s flashlight. They listened to Budzyn’s radio call for help and confirmed that he sounded like he was in trouble. The only blood on Budzyn was on the inside of his sock where he had the leg injury. (Where Green kicked him.) There was no dome light in the car, and the car was DARK when examined just after the incident.

Retired officer Maynard: "Has never seen" witnesses paid as Pace was. Was told that Pace’s first statement was to be destroyed. Confirmed police bias against Budzyn and Nevers.  Was removed from the case after a few days (as were all the other white officers in charge).

The car demonstration: Pointed out next to nothing.  The prosecution kept the door open contrary to testimony while demonstrating their scenario.

Howarth spoke generally at the end by asking, "If they were carrying a drop gun why didn’t they use the drop gun?" He mentioned Budzyn’s two radio calls for help and asked why no witnesses saw or heard this. He explained why manslaughter doesn’t fit in this case because there was no gross negligence. He questioned why, out of about 50 combined opportunities for the eye witnesses to see the alleged blows, not one saw a single blow connect. He conclude by asking only for "justice" from the jurors.

After this, Doug Baker was given one last opportunity to rebut. His final sermon began with the same old tired "he was alive, then he was dead" story which is supposed to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was "murdered." Baker said, as before, that all the witnesses "basically" saw the same thing. At one point Baker said Budzyn went "into the car willingly" while at another point demeaned Budzyn’s testimony by saying Budzyn was "sucked into the car on his back." Baker hinted that somebody in the police department was covering for Budzyn, and that Ayoob had "serious financial" motivation to testify in Budzyn’s behalf.

In attacking Dr. Dragovic’s credibility, Baker said he "has intruded in this case consistently over the years."  Baker claimed it "was no big deal" that Budzyn’s flashlight had no blood on it, and it was "not significant" that the dome light in Green’s car was gone. He said the toy gun makes Budzyn a "flat out" liar, and says they didn’t plant the gun because there were "too many witnesses" by then. (We are supposed to believe that they were not afraid to beat Green to death in front of witnesses, but were then afraid to plant a toy gun.) Baker ended by stating that Budzyn was either beating Green’s "brains out" (remember that Green didn’t even have a fracture) or else was "helping." Take your pick.

Thankfully the trial is now over, and the judge will be giving the jurors instructions and sending them off to deliberate tomorrow. Pray for justice.

March 9, 1998

Today Judge Jackson granted the prosecution’s request to allow the jurors to view the actual car belonging to Malice Green and watch a demonstration designed to show whether or not it was possible to strike the alleged blows. The defense was allowed to repeat the same demonstration. Spectators were not allowed to view these demonstrations, but a replay on Court TV gave us some idea as to what occurred.

The prosecution placed Green’s head on the driver’s seat with the driver’s door open. They executed moderate force mock blows which appeared to land on Green’s right forehead and, of course, hit nothing else within the car. Hopefully, the jurors will recall that prosecution witnesses testified that the driver’s door was OPEN, and that Green’s injuries were to his LEFT forehead. Most importantly, if the blows were actually delivered as in this demonstration, there would have been blood on the driver’s seat which there WAS NOT.

The defense demonstrated with the driver’s door closed, as was consistent with the prosecution witnesses’ testimony. As would be expected, they had trouble striking any blows without hitting the steering wheel, ceiling or windshield. Remember: NO Blood was found on the driver’s seat or the driver’s door as would be the result were the incident to have happened as demonstrated.

Although the judge did not allow the attorneys to speak during this demonstration, he allowed jurors to submit to him questions in writing afterward. Jackson received a number of questions, but answered only one. The juror submitting the question wanted to know whether the demonstration had been meant to depict Walter Budzyn or Larry Nevers! We are all praying that this juror was one of the alternates and that the other jurors questions were not similar.

Former evidence technician Brian Reichman finally answered the question we have all been waiting for: Was it dark inside Green’s car? Reichman stated that when he arrived at the scene near midnight, he had to use his flashlight to examine the interior of the car because "the interior of the Topaz was dark." Upon examining the car more closely several months later, he found that the bulb had been removed from the dome light. When prosecutor Donaldson hinted that perhaps the bulb had been removed sometime between the incident and the second examination, Reichman flatly declared, "It was DARK inside the car." Reichman’s testimony directly contradicted the testimonies of several of the drug addicts who said that the dome light was on in Green’s car enabling them to clearly see Budzyn beating Green.

As the day’s testimony continued, Former homicide officer Danny Maynard and Lt. Vernon Humes testified regarding several improprieties committed by the police department in the course of the Green investigation and trial. Maynard said he ran the names of all five drug addict witnesses on the L.E.I.N. computer shortly after the incident and found that all five had outstanding warrants against them. He said he was aware that these warrants were taken by Lt. Humes to a judge and bonds were given and the cases were adjourned for over a year. "I have never seen this done before."

When Humes was questioned about these warrants, he admitted personally taking these warrants to Judge John Perry "probably to have these cases adjourned." In a break from usual procedure, neither the suspects themselves nor their attorneys were present. Although vague about what exactly occurred, he said that he likely talked to someone at the court who talked to the judge "off record." Humes disavowed any personal responsibility by insisting that he was told to do this by his superiors (Alston, Stewart and Presley).

Maynard said that he was also aware of the way witness Theresa Pace had been treated in regard to the paying of extra witness fees. When asked if it was standard procedure to pay a detained witness per diam for non court appearances, he answered, "I’ve never seen that done." Maynard agreed that the way the case was handled by police was "certainly" unusual.

As a climax to this several week long trial, defense attorneys focused on further evidence of conspiracy to railroad Nevers and Budzyn among those within the police department. Former homicide officer Danny Maynard testified that two of his superiors, Lt. Tommy Alston, and Com. Gerald Stewart, had a private meeting with prostitute Theresa Pace at Homicide four days after the incident. Maynard testified that at some point Sgt. Humes joined the meeting, then left. Humes went immediately to Maynard and spoke to him saying, "They want me to take a second statement from Redbone (Pace). They say we should get rid of the first statement." Maynard said he told Humes, "I don’t think that’s a good idea, we need to let Presley (another superior) know." They then talked to Presley, and as a result, the first statement was not destroyed. Shortly thereafter, both Maynard and Presley were ordered removed from the Malice Green case. Maynard was replaced by Lt. Rice. (Rice is the officer who forged Pace’s name in order to cash her checks without her knowledge.)

Humes was called to the stand and denied saying anything about destroying Pace’s first statement. Humes seemed far more uncomfortable than any other witness thus far, and avoided answering many questions by saying "I don’t recall," or "could be," and while admitting that various conversations may have occurred, he wasn’t sure exactly who did or said what when. There were a lot of long pauses, "I don’t recall"s, and defensiveness. When he was asked if it would be wrong to destroy that statement, Humes responded with, "Yes, there might be other copies."

The defense rested its case at the end of the day after the cross examination of Danny Maynard succeeded only to strengthen his testimony. When asked why he did not report the suggested obstruction of justice (referring the to destruction of Pace’s first statement) Maynard said, "I would have had to report it to my boss who was the one who did it." And, "His boss was there too." Maynard said that he "started having feelings about the fairness of the (Green) investigation" early on, and "yes" he still has concerns. "There was a general mood concerning this case. This mood was to GET THESE GUYS AT ALL COSTS."

The day began with Dr. Charles Wetli testifying as to the effects of cocaine on the human body. Wetli, whose credentials are above reproach, stated that the three most addictive substances in popular use are cocaine, heroin, and nicotine. While it takes three years to become addicted to nicotine, cocaine works much more rapidly. The user becomes addicted in only 6 to 8 weeks.

Wetli discussed how cocaine affects the user in various stages eventually leading up to paranoia, then agitated delirium, characterized by bizarre and violent behavior and displays of inordinate strength. The stages blur together in a regular user such as Mr. Green. Since cocaine is an anesthetic, the user may not feel pain.

Wetli stated that the "life of an addict revolves around cocaine" and "Yes," an addict could become violently protective of their own cocaine.

Wetli also explained that crack cocaine (the solid form that Green and his friends were using) is more addictive than powered cocaine, and cocaine in combination with alcohol enhances and prolongs it’s effects. Wetli said he had reviewed the autopsy of Malice Green and the toxicology report, which indeed confirmed that Green had ingested cocaine in combination with alcohol shortly before his death.

Why Dr. Wetli was not asked to give his opinion as to the cause of death is beyond us, since much evidence was produced at the first trial indicating that Malice Green died as a result of his cocaine use and could not have died from his "superficial" scalp injuries alone. No death by blunt force trauma: no murder, but apparently the defense attorneys do not want to discourage these jurors from thinking that perhaps Nevers murdered Green, as long as they don’t think Budzyn did it. Never mind the whole truth, partial truth will do I guess.

On cross examination, Wetli stated that he has been involved in a number of cases pertaining to in-custody deaths, sometimes testifying for the police officer and sometimes against. He expects to be paid $3,500 - $4,000 for his work on this case.

Later, as Mr. Masaad Ayoob took the stand, Court TV’s Nancy Grace was heard to gasp: "Wow, that’s impressive!" Ayoob is a nationally renowned expert on police use of force, but that did not stop Prosecutor Baker from attempting to demean him in the eyes of the jury by suggesting that his place of business was too small, that he didn’t have enough employees, and that his experience as a part time police officer was worse than no experience at all. "So-o, you’re a SELF-proclaimed expert," Baker taunted.

Whether or not the jury was taken in by Baker’s antics remains to be seen, but Ayoob didn’t appear too intimidated and went on to do what he came to do. Ayoob related how he had thoroughly reviewed the case, but still would not except it until he interviewed Mr. Budzyn. He wanted to know that Budzyn was telling the truth first, and "Yes," Budzyn met his criteria.

Over objections from the prosecution, Judge Jackson allowed defense attorney Howarth to review in detail and at great length the defense scenario from beginning to end. Ayoob was then asked for his opinion and responded with a demonstration and by concluding, "Based on everything we teach…..Yes," Budzyn could have been pulled into the car backwards as described. Regarding everything else Budzyn did that night, Ayoob said that nothing in Budzyn’s actions constituted "excessive force or any impropriety."

On the other hand, Ayoob was not convinced by the prosecution’s scenario. "I found it impossible to recreate Pace’s version of the events," he said. "It would be virtually impossible, you would have to swing through the steering wheel…(in order to create those marks on Green’s head)."

One other witness testified briefly that Budzyn’s flashlight and jacket had no blood on them, then, just before the jury was dismissed for the day, Judge Jackson was handed a note by one of the jurors. It contained the following questions: How tall was Malice Green and how much did he weigh? Were his feet on the curb or in the street? Was Budzyn close enough to be kicked?

Jackson answered the first question (wt: 150lbs. Ht: 5’10"), but said he was not permitted to answer the other questions. Hopefully the remaining jurors have not all been sleeping and can help this confused juror out during deliberations. I am wondering though, why anyone might think that Budzyn could be close enough to grab Green’s wrist (as he did by ALL accounts), but not close enough to be kicked by Green.

Walter Budzyn testified in his own defense today as planned. Budzyn’s natural tendency toward silence has given many of his supporters some concern about how he would come across to a jury, but all in all things seemed to go fairly well. Defense attorney Howarth did a good job of guiding him through the entire chain of events from start to finish in a logical and satisfying order and encouraging him to elaborate when needed. Budzyn told the same consistent story he has from the beginning while adding a few more details to round out his testimony and addressing a few areas only referred to vaguely in the first trial. Walter remained on the stand at length, so hopefully the jurors got a feel for the real Walter Budzyn: not a talker, but serious about his work as a police officer.

As usual, Prosecutor Baker resorted to innuendo, intimidation, and mischaracterization in his cross examination. A favorite tactic of Baker’s is to inaccurately quote the witness to make it appear as though the witness has agreed with him. After Budzyn testified that he saw the light from Nevers’ flashlight come down and stop at Green’s head, Baker immediately began quoting him as saying that he saw Nevers "strike" Green. Budzyn repeatedly told Baker that he was not sure it was a "strike" but only that he saw the light from Nevers’ flashlight come down and stop at Green’s head.

Baker stooped to his usual low when he referred to that infamous number "14" again, even though this number (referring to the number of alleged blows) has NEVER BEEN TESTIFIED TO IN THIS TRIAL.

Budzyn’s testimony remained as before, that he saw cocaine fall from Green’s hand then grabbed this hand as Green reached for the glove box. Green kicked Budzyn in the shin, then the knee, while pulling back his arm, causing Budzyn to fall into the car backwards on top of him, dropping his flashlight at the same time. Budzyn said he and Green struggled for what "seemed like an hour," but was probably only a few short minutes. During this time Budzyn radioed for help twice. Budzyn said that although he could not see what his partner was doing behind him, he heard sounds of a struggle and two thumps. By then he had lost his grip on Green’s arm and fallen between the bucket seats. When Budzyn was able to extract himself from the car, he first checked his weapon, then turned, and glancing through the car, saw Nevers holding Green up and saw the light of Nevers’ flashlight come down and stop at Green’s head. He then saw Green being pulled from the car, and thinking the incident was over, went about recovering his fallen flashlight, the cocaine, and a few other miscellaneous items.

During cross examination, Baker questioned why Budzyn brought the cocaine with him to homicide and gave it to his attorney instead of following the usual procedures concerning the handling of evidence. Budzyn held fast to his actual testimony wherein he stated that he had given the cocaine to both his attorney and an officer at homicide together, "Because no one would talk to us." (Too bad Baker didn’t ask why. Perhaps we would have learned more about the police department’s conspiracy to railroad Nevers and Budzyn starting that very night.)

Budzyn finished up his testimony by saying that the only thing his attorneys had told him in the way of coaching was "to tell the truth."

After Budzyn completed his testimony, Lynn Helton, a serology specialist with the Michigan State Police, took the stand briefly. The prosecution hurriedly agreed to stipulate to Helton’s expertise in the area of blood spatter analysis, but the defense said they wanted to continue going over her long impeccable list of credentials (presumably for the jurors’ benefit) and was allowed to do so.

Helton’s testimony was new to us, but not surprising considering the unscrupulous handling of this case from the beginning. Helton testified that she was first contacted in regard to this case by none other than Prosecutor Doug Baker himself before the first trial. She said she examined Green’s car and told Baker that the fine spatter on the ceiling near the driver’s door was "impact" spatter and that the spatter on the windshield was not "cast off." This is consistent with Budzyn’s assertion that he did not strike Green. After that, Baker DID NOT call her to testify. (Sounds fishy to me. How about you?)

Oakland County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. L. Dragovic testified for the remainder of the day and was a smashing success! In a story similar to Helton’s, Dragovic said that he was first contacted about the Green case in December of 1992 by Prosecutor Baker, but after hearing his opinion, Baker DID NOT call Dragovic to testify. (Dragovic was later called by the defense, and testified that Cocaine contributed to Green’s death and that the head injuries alone could not have killed him.) Defense attorneys did not question Dr. Dragovic about cause of death this time, but only about whether or not Green could have been struck by blows from Budzyn’s flashlight according to the scenario alleged by the prosecution.

Dragovic said there was simply not enough room in the car for Budzyn to have hit Green as described; the blood on the windshield was not cast off; IF Budzyn had managed to hit Green at an angle, Green’s face would have had injuries (it did not) and not the top of his head; if Green’s head were on the seat there would be blood on the seat; and if the prosecution’s scenario were true, "there would have been blood all over." "The scalp bleeds profusely," he said, "and splashes blood all over." "When the scalp is broken, it bleeds more than anywhere else on the human body."

On the other hand, Dragovic confirmed that if the blows were struck in the manner the defense (and Larry Nevers) asserted, those blows could account for all the injuries to Green’s head as well as the blood stains that were found.

Since the prosecution again had nothing to refute Dragovic’s testimony with, they resorted to attacks on his credibility, but were no match for the good Doctor. When the inference was made that Dragovic had some hidden agenda in testifying for the defense, Dragovic confidently asserted, "I care about the truth." When Prosecutor Baker suggested that Dragovic had used lowly common sense rather than lofty science in reaching his conclusions, Dragovic, with calm assurance, set us all straight, "That’s what it’s all about," he said, "COMMON SENSE."

(Some of the sparring):

Baker (with sarcasm): "Have you ever donated to Mr. Budzyn’s defense fund?"
Dragovic: "No."
Baker (still sarcastic): "Don’t you have an opinion about guilt or innocence in this case?"
Dragovic: "No, I do not."
Baker (very sarcastic): "Well, don’t you have an opinion about the handling of this case?"
Dragovic: "Well, I’m under oath, so I must admit I’ve formed some opinion about YOUR handling of this case Mr. Baker!"

(At this point the court room burst into uncontrollable laughter. Score one for the excellent doctor!)

In one last feeble attempt to salvage something in way of a cross examination, Baker revisited the subject of whether or not there was room in Green’s small car to execute the alleged blows. Dragovic’s unwavering answer was "NO." "The problem is, there’s not enough space to do this in—in a convertable, yes. If you take out the steering wheel, yes." As Baker continued to whine, Dr. Dragovic got the last shot in by challenging Baker to prove his allegations were possible with a real life demonstration. "I’d like you to demonstrate on me!" Dragovic challenged.

Unable to attack his credentials, Prosecutor Donaldson nit-picked Toby Wolson’s testimony for hours trying to poke holes in it. Donaldson mischaracterized Wolson’s statements, tried to confuse matters by shifting from blood spot to blood spot and mixing up definitions, and tried to show inconsistencies by taking part of Wolson’s testimony out of context. Wolson held his own very well. He refused to agree to any statement made by Donaldson that was not the compete truth and did it without sounding defensive. He was completely consistent in his testimony despite Donaldson’s best efforts to twist his words. It got to the point where Donaldson began to look foolish to some of us. When Donaldson handed Budzyn’s flashlight to Wolson, and asked him if he recognized it, Wolson responded with a very straight faced, "Yes, it does appear to be a flashlight wrapped in brown paper."

Donadson ended by demanding that Wolson explain how the tiny drops on the far right portion of the windshield could have been made as a result of the low force "flicking" type blows such as the EMS (and Larry Nevers at the first trial) testified to. Wolson confidently stated that it was indeed possible. When Donaldson accused him of not having any documentation to support his theory, Wolson replied that he had in his car, the blood stains he created himself when he reenacted this type of blow repeatedly. "I did it myself," he said.

Walter’s former partner James Dukes testified briefly today, but should have stayed home. He was not allowed by the court to discuss any specific example of Walt’s good character and couldn’t remember anything else. Although at first he characterized Walt as "peaceful," when he was later given the choice between "violent, peaceful, or somewhere in between," Dukes chose the last one. Defense attorneys did nothing whatsoever to redeem this poor choice of words.

Officer Karl Gunther also took the stand and although knocked around by the prosecution a bit, came out looking honest and credible and in full support of Walter Budzyn. He also testified that he had indeed seen cocaine in Budzyn’s hand after the incident, which Walter told him he had recovered from Green’s car.

First, it seems that even the attorneys were confused about the terminology used by these blood spatter experts, so here is a review:

Low velocity: Those droplets caused by no force except gravity. A drip for example.
Medium velocity: Those droplets propelled by some force greater than gravity but less than high velocity.
High velocity: Those droplets propelled at a high speed. Englert said only gunshots, Wolson said there were other causes as well.

Impact: A spatter pattern found in a 360 degree radius around and close to the point of impact from blood on the object being struck.
Projected: Blood thrown from the back side of the object being struck (assuming the object has blood on the back side)
Cast forward: Blood thrown forward in the direction of the blows from the object doing the hitting. (Assuming the object already has blood on it.)
Cast off: Blood thrown from the backswing of the object doing the hitting.
Transfer: Blood stain caused by a bloody object touching something else.

The defense kicked off their case with expert witness David E. Balish of the Michigan State Police Crime Lab. Mr. Balish adamantly disagreed with some major aspects of prosecution expert Rod Englert’s opinion. Balish’s biggest disagreement pertained to the spatter patterns found on the center and right portion of the windshield and on the ceiling of Green's car. Englert believed these to be cast off patterns coming from the back swing of Budzyn’s flashlight as he dealt blows to Green from inside the car. Balish said he "absolutely and emphatically disagrees." Both Englert and Balish described cast off patterns as being linear, but Balish insisted that the pattern found in these area were very random and not at all linear so they could not be cast off. He also said he had just examined the car for several hours and that the specks of blood he found were much fewer and smaller than Englert had indicated on his diagrams.

Englert said there was room in the car for Budzyn to swing his flashlight over his head and strike Green in the manner that witness Teresa Pace described in the first trial. Balish said that when he tried to reenact those blows, "he could not do it, even remotely close." Balish said that if the beating had occurred in a similar manner to that which the prosecution asserts, then there would have been evidence of such within the car. There would have been damage to the steering wheel, dashboard, mirrors, etc., from the flashlight hitting these objects in such close confines. There would also have been castoff and transfer blood on the ceiling which there was not. Most importantly, there would have been impact and projected and cast forward blood around where Green’s head supposedly was, and on the inside of the driver’s door above the seat level or on Larry Nevers’ jacket. There was NONE. (Nevers’ jacket had only some small specks on the cuff consistent with him doing the hitting.)

Balish also indicated that if there had been anyone on top of Green holding him down while Nevers hit him (this is what the prosecution asserts) then that person would have had a lot of blood on him and that blood would not have reached the windshield. (Walter had no blood on him and the windshield did).

Balish’s vehement conclusion was that "All blows could have been delivered by a single person outside the vehicle."

Since Balish’s testimony was consistent with good common sense (a rare commodity these days), the prosecution ruthlessly attacked his credentials. While Balish had often been qualified by other courts to testify as a "crime scene reconstructionist and blood spatter expert," he had never been qualified as a "blood spatter expert" ALONE. According to the prosecution’s reasoning, Balish’s over qualification made him unqualified.

After Balish, the defense called another blood spatter expert who more than made up for any lack of credentials Balish may have had. Mr. Toby Wolson was easily qualified as an expert on blood spatter and then went on to strongly agree with the complete testimony of Balish. Wolson said that he had testified at the first Green trial, but at that time he was give very little opportunity to view the car itself since he had been told it "might not be available". Just before he was to testify, the car mysteriously showed up and he was able to take a quick look. (Rumor has it that the police department lost the car temporarily.)  This time, Wolson said he was allowed all the time he needed and was very confident in his findings.

Like Balish, Wolson said nothing on the ceiling or windshield had a linear pattern indicating cast off. The patterns on the windshield were missing other cast off indicators as well. Wolson said a cast off pattern would appear as an arch beginning near the impact site and continuing until it trails off at the end. He said the pattern on the windshield clearly had no beginning and there was no intermediary target blocking the blood from hitting the glass. Toby was confident that the windshield stains came from a location on the driver's side of the door, either low to the ground outside the car, or higher up. He would not rule out cast off completely, only because "anything is possible".

Knox (to be added)

A portion of the transcript of Robert Knox’s preliminary exam testimony was read this morning. Knox as we know, was the local drug dealer who supplied Green and his friends with illegal drugs and "yes," cocaine is still illegal. Knox died in a drug deal gone bad between the time of the preliminary exam and the first trial. The present jurors will not be given this information however. They are only being told that Mr. Knox is "unavailable" to testify. It is apparently a rule of court that a person’s past criminal history can only be brought up in court if it relates to lying, not immorality, drug abuse, physical assault on a police officer, resisting arrest, etc.

During the afternoon session prosecution attorneys called Mr. Rod Englert to testify as an expert on blood spatter. Mr. Englert testified that the original photographs and other records documenting the blood spatters in and on Green’s car were not adequate to allow him to render a reliable opinion. Englert was flown in from Oregon by the prosecution and examined the car itself yesterday.

If anyone was assuming that testimony regarding such obvious physical evidence as blood spatters would be clear and concise, they suffered a big let down. After discussing his resume, Englert gave jurors a quick education on basic blood spatter patterns then addressed the current issue. According to testimony given by evidence technicians at the first trial, there was very little blood found in Green’s car. While there were no large spots and indeed very little that was even visible to the naked eye, Mr. Englert’s examination found a multitude of tiny of blood specs in several places inside the car. The highest concentration was located very low on the inside of the lower driver’s door and from there they appeared to radiate up and across the windshield and ceiling toward the passenger side, and all indicated movement in that direction.

Most of the spatters were grouped together on the lower inside of the driver’s door and corresponding running board area. More were found on the left and underside of the steering column, on the dashboard to the right of the steering wheel, and on the windshield near the driver’s side door jam. In Englert’s opinion all these tiny specs came from an area outside the driver’s side door and rather low to the ground, although he said the source was moving around. This supports the testimony of EMS witnesses and Nevers as to the location of Green when the blows were struck, but does not support the prosecution’s contention that Green was not moving.

Three other groups of tiny specs gave Englert trouble however. These were located on the windshield and, like the previous groups, were caused by droplets moving from the driver’s side toward the passenger side. Rather than assuming that these came from the same general location as the others, Englert asserted they came from the backswing of an assailant striking Green from inside the car, with Green positioned on his back with his head near the open driver’s door and the assailant positioned above him facing toward this same door and swinging generally down toward Green’s head.

HOLES IN ENGLERT’S THEORY:

Although Englert repeatedly stated that "most of the blood would travel in the direction of the strike," there was NO blood found on the area of the upper driver’s door which would be directly behind Green’s head and in line with the direction of Budzyn’s alleged blows. Englert’s response to this quandary was to state that the door MUST HAVE BEEN OPEN. Apparently the prosecutors did not inform him that those who claimed to have witnessed Budzyn beating Green in this manner all agreed the driver’s door was CLOSED at that time.

Englert also repeatedly stated that the highest concentration of spatters would be nearest to the point of impact. This fits the scenario of Nevers’ admitted blows inside the now open car door, but does not fit the prosecution’s scenario of Budzyn beating Green inside the car before the door was opened. Englert stated that NO blood was found on the horizontal surface of the driver’s seat or on the steering wheel close to where Green’s head was allegedly located.

While Englert insisted that an attacker might not get any blood on himself, Englert was personally spattered during his own demonstration, and Nevers’ jacket contained tiny blood specs around the cuff just as even Englert admitted he would expect. Walter Budzyn’s jacket was not confiscated after Green’s death because it contained NO blood.

Englert disputed the possibility of the windshield spatters coming from Nevers UNLESS NEVERS USED A "GOLF CLUB TYPE SWING." Nevers has stated all along that he used a side to side flicking motion and prosecution witness Ralph Fletcher did indeed call this a "golf club type swing." (If Fletcher saw anything at all, which is questionable.)

Englert said that the steering wheel (which contained no blood) would have blocked blood droplets caused by Nevers, but he did not explain why the rear view mirror did not block spatters allegedly caused by Budzyn. (Specs were found on the windshield behind the mirror, but not on it, although it would have been in line with castoff from Budzyn’s flashlight according to the prosecution’s theory.)

Other small points of contention: Although Englert pointed to some small specs and said they were small because they "break up and spread," later he pointed to other small specs and stated that "small specs come from small sources and large from large." No one asked Engert if any of these many tiny specks could have been caused by cast-off from Green’s long curly hair being shaken about as he "moved around" actively resisting arrest. When discussing the direction of the specs, there was no reference to the natural arching affect created were droplets to be thrown upward then fall back down.

Defense Attorney Carole Stanyar ended her questioning of Englert by asking him if the object used to strike Green would have picked up blood on it, to which Englert, of course, answered, "Yes." (Walter Budzyn’s flashlight had NO blood on it.)

Another day of incredibly uncredible witnesses. It appears the prosecution is trying to overwhelm the jurors with a massive quantity of confusing testimony in the hopes they will give up trying to judge the credibility of each witness separately, and simply lump them all together into one package called "in general." It worked in 1993 for Kym Worthy.

Lee Hardy led off with a repeat performance of the last time he testified. (In fact, most of the eyewitnesses seem to be suspiciously well versed on certain particulars from their prior testimonies.) We are expected to believe Lee Hardy even though his testimony doesn’t come close to matching anyone else's including his own EMS partner’s. Both Hardy and his partner Scott Walsh agreed that they were standing together watching the scene. From there on their testimonies head in different directions.

Walsh said Nevers was standing in the open car door with his back to the driver’s seat. He said Green was hanging out of the car directly between Nevers' legs. Hardy (and every other witness) said Nevers had his side to the car’s interior, and his back to the open car door, with Green hanging out in front of him. Walsh said Nevers struck Green once in the back of the head. Hardy said possibly 10 times. Walsh said Green’s head was level with Nevers’ waist and I am having a hard time understanding how this could be possible while Nevers was straddling him at the same time. Hardy said Green was holding himself up on his elbows.

Walsh said Lewis gave Budzyn peroxide when Budzyn said his partner needed it to wash up. Hardy said Walsh gave Budzyn peroxide and they both washed up. Neither of them said they saw Budzyn sit on Green, or hold Green down, or hit Green, or do much of anything except appear to be searching for something in and around the car (just as Budzyn has said all along.)

Addict Robert Hollins didn’t seem quite as alert as some of the other prosecution witnesses. Hollins denied being a regular crack cocaine user because he "doesn’t always have money." He wasn’t sure he remembered many details, but was very sure that "cocaine does not affect his memory." Hollins demonstrated Budzyn holding his flashlight by the handle end, while everyone else said the flashlight was held by the bulb end.  He admitted he had no idea how Budzyn got in Green’s car, and he "assumed" Budzyn was hitting Green on the head.

Several other area residents testified. Witness Gregory Sims testified that "yes" he is truthful, but "not exactly" law-abiding. He then admitted to numerous convictions. Sims insisted he clearly saw Nevers and a uniformed officer wiping blood off the driver’s seat and interior of Green’s car by the light of the interior dome. (Never mind that he was seven lanes of traffic away, at night, and there was no dome light in the car, and never mind that the seats in Green’s car are cloth and impossible to wipe off and there was virtually no blood found on those seats). Sims said Nevers was wearing a dark shirt with short sleeves. Earlier he said this was Budzyn. (Other witnesses said Nevers wore a tan jacket and Budzyn a black jacket with sleeves, of course, since it was November.) Sims admitted that he got some information about the case by paying $10 to "one of those girls on Warren" who "smoke cocaine and take drugs."

Neighbor Beverly Vanderbuilt testified that she saw Budzyn handcuff Green, contradicting everyone else, who said uniformed officers handcuffed Green. Witness Darlene James said she first saw Green in the car, then later on the pavement, yet never saw anyone hit him at all.

Special Note about today’s Shocking Media Revelation!!!: The media is reporting that a surprise witness will testify, saying that he learned in prison conversations with Nevers and Budzyn that they beat Green after drinking on the job that night. First: consider the source. Second: remember the media’s sad history in this case of publicizing anything negative about Nevers and Budzyn. And third: remember that Larry Nevers does not drink and never has. Let’s give this guy and Nevers a lie detector test and see who passes!

Questioning of cocaine addict Manuel Brown resumed today with Mr. Howarth of the defense team asking Brown if he was truthful. After repeatedly insisting that he was, Brown admitted to using a false name when he "was going through the system" as he put it. Brown also acknowledged that he had previously been arrested by both Nevers and Budzyn.

While Court TV’s commentator Nancy Grace thought Brown was very credible, those of us who are familiar with the facts of the case (and hopefully the jurors) would strongly disagree. Howarth brought out numerous discrepancies between Brown’s testimony and the testimonies of other witnesses as well as conflicts with the physical evidence. Brown said Budzyn frisked both Knox and Fletcher, Fletcher said he was never frisked. Brown said Green’s feet were inside the car when the altercation began, Pace and Fletcher said they remained outside. Brown said he was standing to the rear of the car up on the curb while Pace specifically said he was not there at all, but was standing on the corner. Brown said that Nevers went to the driver’s side of Green’s car, then to the passenger side, then back to the driver’s side. Fletcher and Pace said Nevers went to the passenger side of the car first.

One of the most striking differences was in the number of blows Brown counted as compared to other witnesses. Brown claimed he saw Nevers hit Green 6 to 9 times on the hand and knee while Pace said only once. Brown is the only one to mention a slapjack being used, which was explained away by prosecutors who suggested Nevers had choked up on his flashlight and changed its appearance.

Brown stated he saw Walter get Green in a headlock and hit him about 10 times with his flashlight using a sideways motion. (In the first trial he demonstrated a jabbing motion.) This vicious beating supposedly occurred inside the car, yet we will eventually see that no blood was found on Budzyn and only a few drops were found inside the car. According to Brown, Green was struck by Nevers and Budzyn over 30 times. Hopefully, the jury will recall that the medical testimony does not bear this out.

Later in the day EMS technician Albino Martinez took the stand. Martinez had no testimony against Budzyn and only said that he could see a pair of legs standing on the other side of the car. He could not see the upper part of the person’s body and assumed he was bending over. This supports other witnesses (and Budzyn’s) contention that Budzyn appeared to be searching for something. Martinez agreed that Green was moving around, waving his arm, refusing to open his clenched fist, etc.

Technician Lee Hardy began his testimony today as well and tells the most fantastic story we have heard yet. Most of his testimony describes several other officers, primarily Robert Lessnau, beating, kicking and punching Green even after he was handcuffed. Still, Hardy had very little testimony against Budzyn. He said he only saw Budzyn move Green’s legs as he searched for something inside the car, then stand up outside the car and look around. All of the EMS technicians so far have said that Budzyn did not appear to be holding Green down or beating him, but rather searching for something inside the car.

Hardy did claim that he saw both Nevers and Budzyn washing blood off their hands, but other witnesses (and Nevers) all have said it was only Nevers who did this.

Note: At the first Green trial, Hardy was the only one to give damaging testimony against Robert Lessnau, and Judge Crockett deemed Hardy a liar when he acquitted Lessnau.

Testimony began today with the questioning of Lt. Wm. Rice and was followed by the Chief of Operations for the Wayne County Prosecutor’s officer Richard Padzieski. Rice was assigned to the Malice Green case shortly after the incident, but said he did not remember who he replaced. Questioning of Rice centered around unusual treatment prostitute Teresa Pace received while she was held in police custody for 33 days prior to her testimony at the first Green trial. Rice said he learned that there were 2 capias (failure to appear) warrants and several others out on Pace, shortly after the Green incident. He gave a very obscure explanation as to why the DPD went before a judge to get these warrants set aside until after she testified.

Rice admitted signing and cashing a $100 check written to Pace while she was in custody. He said the money was used to buy cigarettes and other things for her. Rice thought he also signed another check for $180, for the same purpose. Rice said he asked Pace for permission to sign her name and she agreed. When Pace was on the stand Friday, she claimed to have no knowledge of either of these 2 checks. A third check for $315 was given to Pace after she testified, and represented the standard $12 per day witness fee covering the entire 33 days, according to Rice.

When Mr. Padzieski took the stand, a different explanation for these checks was forthcoming. Padzieski said the $100 check was "to aid the DPD in certain expenditures needed for Ms. Pace." The $180 dollar check he understood to be the usual witness fee up to that day, but he said it was "confusing" because it worked out to $15 per day, not the lawful amount of $12 per day. He attempted to explain why the checks were made out to Pace as a witness fee, even though they were for reimbursements to the DPD, by saying it was so they could "keep track" of the money. No record of how the funds were spent was kept, and Padzieski agreed that he could have made them out to the DPD and simply noted her name on the bottom. Padzieski admitted that signing and cashing these checks as it was done was "wrong" and "possibly criminal."

The third check to Pace was made out to Teresa Rice and was not signed by either Pace or Lt. Rice. Padzieski was surprised when told that the Prosecutor’s office had called the bank and okayed the cashing of that check. "I didn’t think that could work either," he said.

Later in the day EMS technician Mithym Lewis testified. All in all his testimony against Walter Budzyn was next to non-existent. He said Nevers was holding onto Green at the driver’s side door and he saw someone searching around inside Green’s car on the front passenger side, but he could not identify this person and did not see him do anything suspicious. Lewis said that at first Nevers flagged him down and Green was positioned in the car on his side with his upper body outside the car. He was holding himself up with one hand. After being shown earlier testimony, Lewis agreed that he heard someone say that Green had thrown something under the car.

EMS technician Scott Walsh testified after Lewis. Walsh gave no damaging testimony against Budzyn either. Walsh said he only saw Budzyn standing on the other side of Green’s car, then again later when Budzyn asked him for something for his partner to wash up with. On cross examination, Walsh agreed that Green’s "hands were still fighting" the handcuffing process even after being removed from the car, and he "really didn’t see Budzyn do anything."

Manuel Brown was the last witness to testify for the day. Brown was one of the drug addicts who claimed to have seen the altercation with Green. Brown says he stood behind Green’s car a ways and watched Budzyn get Green in a head lock and beat him on the head with his flashlight. Brown said he could not see the blows connect. Brown claimed that during this time, Green’s head was over the driver’s seat, so we are all waiting anxiously to hear why virtually no blood was found on that seat. Perhaps tomorrow…!

Thanks to Friday’s testimony, we now know that signing someone else’s name on the back of a check in order to cash it without the payee’s knowledge, is not forgery! According to Assistant Wayne County Prosecutor Douglas Baker, this is only "inartful" check cashing.

When former prostitute and cocaine addict Teresa Pace took the witness stand today, she adamantly insisted that she had received only one check for $310 as a witness fee, after giving her testimony at the first Malice Green trial. When Pace was shown copies of two other checks made out to her during that time marked with notations stating "Witness Fee" and "Malice Green Trial," Pace insisted she knew nothing about these and claimed that she was not the one who signed her name on the back of each check. When Defense Attorney Carole Stanyar asked Pace to agree that her name had been forged, Prosecutor Baker objected, repeatedly explaining that a homicide officer had cashed the checks to buy "sundries" for her, and although "maybe it was done inartfully," there was "nothing improper" about it. Pace still insisted she knew nothing about these checks and was told by prosecutors that the $310 was the usual $10 or $12 a day detained witness fee.

Much defense questioning of Pace centered around whether or not she was given inducements by police and prosecutors to testify against Nevers and Budzyn in the first trial. Besides the already mentioned "witness fee" checks, Pace readily described the unusual treatment she was given while being held in the police headquarters lock-up for 33 days prior to her testimony at the trial. Pace said she asked and was granted the privilege of being moved there so she could smoke. She said officers bought her clothes, washed her clothes, gave her towels, cigarettes and toiletries, and allowed her to take showers and spend time in the police squad room watching TV. She claimed that only the showers were special.

Prosecutor Baker countered by showing dramatic photos of Pace’s dreary jail cell and the small cluttered squad room. He asked Pace if this was "special" and "luxurious" living conditions. He repeatedly asked Pace to agree that she was "deprived of her ability to support herself during this time," and told the jury that Pace was "JUST being held because she was a material witness." Pace readily agreed with Baker, but also reluctantly admitted to Stanyar that she had no address at the time and would have been living "here and there." Although Pace at first insisted that she was held against her will, she later admitted that she had previously testified under oath the she could have come up with the money to pay her $10,000 bond.

Regarding questioning Pace about 7 outstanding warrants against her at the time of the incident, Baker wanted these to be referred to as "traffic tickets," but the judge allowed Stanyar to explain that they were "90 day misdemeanors." Jackson ruled however that the defense could not tell the jurors that Ms. Pace was a prostitute. (These misdemeanors were related to her chosen profession/means of support. See our "profiles" page.) It seems that less than 2 weeks after the incident in 1992, these warrants were all set aside until after Pace gave her testimony months later. When Baker told the judge this was "not uncommon," Jackson responded with "Mr. Baker, come on now, don’t pull my leg." One day after her testimony, Judge Marion Moore dismissed 4 of these "tickets" and reduced the remaining 3. The 29 year old Pace was also enrolled in a special drug treatment program normally reserved for teen-aged girls. Before ending for the day, Stanyar briefly questioned Pace about another case involving the white slave trade, where she was granted immunity in exchange for her testimony.

A few of the changes in the testimonies of Teresa Pace and Ralph Fletcher:

Pace said in her first statement to police after the incident that Green had cocaine in his hand. When police called her back in to go over "parts" of her statement, she changed her mind and said she saw a small baggie of the kind used for cocaine. In yet another statement she claimed what she saw was a piece of paper. Today she reverted back to her "baggie" testimony.

Pace previously testified that the ACLU had offered to pay her bond so she could be released from jail prior to the first Green trial. She told them she wanted to stay where she was. Today Pace denied any knowledge of the ACLU’s offer.

Fletcher earlier claimed that Budzyn had patted him down. Now he says Budzyn never patted him down. After being shown his testimony, Fletcher said Budzyn only "brushed" him on the thigh.

In previous testimony, Fletcher claimed he saw Walter Budzyn washing his flashlight. Now Fletcher says it was Nevers, not Budzyn, he saw washing his flashlight. (Larry Nevers testified that he did indeed wash off his flashlight and hands to avoid contact with Green’s blood.)

Although Fletcher claims he is sure it was Budzyn he saw in the car on top of Green, he could not pick Budzyn out of a police lineup the day after the incident.

The prosecution’s first witness was Malice Green’s mother, Patricia Green, who said, "I got a call saying the police officers had murdered my son…" This statement typifies the Nevers and Budzyn case from start to finish. No impartial investigation, no presumption of innocence, instead the verdict of murder by the police department and others from Day One onward. Of course, no one thought it proper to question Mrs. Green about who said this or how they came to that conclusion so quickly.

Dr. Bader Cassin did most of the testifying today. Although not revealed to the jurors, Dr. Jiraki, who did the original autopsy, concluding blunt force trauma as cause of death, will not be testifying due to mental illness. Cassin was Jiraki’s boss at the time of Green’s death and said he did a second autopsy on Green the following day. Today he testified that he agreed with Jiraki as to the cause of death and no mention was made of an affidavit he signed after the first Green trial stating that he had disagreed with Jiraki and felt cocaine may have contributed to Green’s death. It appears that the defense position will be that since Walter Budzyn had nothing to do with Green’s death, the cause of death is not important.

Despite the apparent lack of interest in cause of death this time, several interesting details were revealed. Gone is the infamous number 14. For 5 years now the media has been echoing Kym Worthy’s claim that Malice Green was killed by "at least 14" blows to the head. The closest Cassin would come to this was to say, "I think there were somewhere in the range of nine to 12 blows." This was assuming of course that all these blunt force injuries were blows. Only a few of the injuries (cuts) appeared severe, and the lack of a fracture indicated to Cassin that "they were delivered with a force that was less than it would take to break bone."

Cassin agreed that the combination of cocaine, alcohol and adrenaline could increase and prolong the effects of cocaine and "any amount of cocaine would have an effect on behavior." "The exact amount is not so important. The presence is what is important."

The testimony of Ralph Fletcher began today as well. (summary to be added)

February 18, 1998

A jury of 8 whites, 3 blacks and 1 Asian has been seated and opening arguments were heard today in Walter Budzyn’s retrial. Jackson began by giving careful and lengthy instructions to the jurors covering everything from "the burden of proof is always with the prosecution," to "the verdict must be unanimous." Jurors were told not to discuss the case with anyone or listen to any news reports (rules clearly broken at Walter’s previous trial). Jurors were reminded that they "must start with the presumption of innocence", and that "every element must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt."

Doug Baker led off for the prosecution by telling the jury, "This case is about murder…" He described Green’s life being taken by police flashlights "used to club the life out of a man." Baker asked the jurors to picture themselves as helpless observers at the scene, unable to do anything about what they see. Baker’s description of the events of November 5, 1992 appeared to be a compilation of selected portions of the testimonies of the five drug addict observers whom he referred to as civilians. The dilapidated building where Ralph Fletcher resides as a squatter was called his "home". While Baker admitted that Fletcher allowed others to use his "home" to smoke cocaine, he said, "he didn’t sell it or anything like that."

Baker majored on his theory that Nevers and Budzyn had absolutely no reason to stop Green, but "if it was proper, it was only to get a small rock of cocaine." Baker said the witnesses will testify that Budzyn beat Green inside the car, then held Green down while his partner beat him.

According to Baker, the first EMS unit saw Nevers beating Green. The second EMS unit, according to Baker, then arrived and watched "in horror" as Green was "just taking a beating that doesn’t seem to stop."

Baker stated that "it is not our position that they (the officers) meant to kill Green." He says they "intended to do a lot of damage" and "they subjected him to a high degree of risk."

Baker was allowed by Judge Jackson to show the jurors several photos of the building where the altercation took place (there was no Malice Green memorial visible, but there was a large cross standing on the lawn) as well as two photos taken of Malice Green’s head after death—one shaved, the other not—showing the head injuries. (It was interesting to note that most of the wounds were small and did not appear to penetrate all the way through the skin.)

Defense attorney Carole Stanyar began by putting two basic questions to the jurors: "Did Walter Budzyn kill Green?" and "Did Walter Budzyn pin down, or hold down Green so Larry Nevers could kill Green?" Her resounding answer was, "NO!"

Stanyar reviewed Walter’s good reputation, citing his Air Force service then 19 years with the Detroit Police Department. "He has spent all of his adult life serving his country." She explained that only excellent officers are put on the booster cars, Walter’s regular assignment. She reviewed his awards, including a life saving award and being deemed Officer of the Year in 1990.

Stanyar refuted Baker’s claim that the officers had no reason to stop Green, but rather saw a red car they thought was stolen, with bullet holes in it, pull over to the curb in front of a known drug house. She said Walter saw Robert Knox (a known drug dealer) run from the car (fleeing police).

Stanyar told jurors they will hear three versions of what happened that night. One will be Walter’s, which is that Green refused to give up the drugs, then kicked Walter and pulled him into the car where they struggled as Walter radioed for help and tried to keep Green from escaping. The second will be the "civilian" (drug addict) witnesses who say that Walter "lunged" into the car on top of Green and beat him repeatedly. And the third will be that of the EMS technicians, who Stanyar said will say they saw Larry Nevers, not Walter, beat Green.

Stanyar said she will address the effects of cocaine of the behavior of Green and the witnesses who all admitted to using cocaine shortly before the incident.

Special Note: I am told that the local TV news media is making much of Carole Stanyar’s assertion that Walter "saw" Larry Nevers hit Green. It has been a very popular MYTH in Detroit in the last 5 years that Walter said that he did not see or hear anything. In actuality, it was former prosecutor Kym Worthy who said this, not Walter. A review of my trial notes shows that Walter testified that he "heard two thumps" but didn’t know what was being hit. He testified that he also "heard sirens" just as Stanyar said, and he also testified that after he got out of the car, he turned and saw the light from Nevers’ flashlight "going down." I would assume that this is what Stanyar was referring to. Larry Nevers testified that he did indeed hit Malice Green when Green grabbed onto his gun. Walter did not hit Green.

February 13, 1998

So far, reporting by Joe Swickard (The Detroit Free Press) and Jim Dyer (The Detroit News), covering the first few days of Walter Budzyn's retrial has been amazingly accurate and impartial. Please check our links to these articles. Articles written yesterday and today accurately record problems already surfacing in connection with the jury selection process. Judge Jackson is apparently dismissing a far larger number of jurors who favor Walter than jurors who favor Green. He claims to only be attempting to even things up. What happened to the idea of finding jurors who do not favor either side? If an impartial jury can not be found, shouldn't a change of venue be granted?

February 12, 1998

Jury selection is still underway and promises to be a long drawn out affair. That being the case, it may be a good time to briefly review the evidence against Walter Budzyn. There were five main eyewitnesses to the confrontation with Malice Green.

The first five were all convicted felons who were standing together within a 15 feet of the scene. These witnesses gave widely differing descriptions of the incident and their stories changed from preliminary exam to other pre-trial statements to trial testimony. Their stories conflicted with one another and changed even on the witness stand as they were questioned.

The witnesses were all in agreement on the following:

All of them admitted to smoking cocaine shortly before the incident.
All of them agreed that Malice Green was hiding something in his hand.
All of them agreed that Malice Green was resisting arrest.
All of them agreed that Malice Green was refusing to obey the lawful command of a police officer.
All of them agreed that they never saw any blows actually strike Malice Green's head.
All of them agreed that the alleged beating occurred INSIDE Green's car.

Things they did not agree on:

Some said Green had cocaine i