Death of Malice Green

Officers Nevers, Budzyn, Robert Lessnau, and Freddie Douglas were charged in the death. Ultimately, charges against Douglas were dropped, and Lessnau was acquitted of assault.[5]

The report was done by Dr. Kahlil Jiraki, the most junior coroner in the department. It was alleged by the defense that his report was rushed due to workload and his impending vacation.

The autopsy showed cuts to the scalp, as well as subarachnoid hemorrhage and brain contusions. However, there were no skull fractures, no other bone fractures. Green's heart was enlarged and the arteries hardened. Toxicology results ultimately showed that Green had a cocaine level of 0.50 micrograms.

Jiraki concluded that the death was caused by blunt force trauma, which caused swelling of the brain. Jiraki testified in Budzyn and Nevers' trial that the damage was done by "fourteen blunt force trauma blows to the head." He stated that his boss, Dr. Bader Cassin, agreed that Green's drug consumption was as "insignificant as the color of his eyes" in relation to the cause of death.

However, under cross-examination, Jiraki testified that there was no swelling noted in the report, nor any fractures to the skull. In the trial of Sgt. Douglas, Jiraki reduced the number of blows to seven (which fit with Nevers’ testimony). At Nevers' second trial, Cassin testified that he examined the body the day after Jiraki made his examination (this second exam was never disclosed to the defense prior to, or during, the first trial) and that drugs played a major part in Green's death.

After the second trial, Jiraki sued the coroner's office, claiming that he was pressured by his superiors to change his findings to state that cocaine contributed to Green's death (which he refused to do) which would have supported the police officer's defense. He was awarded $2.5 million. The coroner's officer later alleged during the civil trial that Jiraki was fired for supposed mental instability and absenteeism.

Jiraki's testimony was supported by the prosecution's medical expert, Dr. Michael Baden. After the trial, Baden allegedly told a pathologists' conference that he came to his conclusion based on information surrounding the circumstances of Green's death and the facts in the exam.

Budzyn and Nevers' defense presented three experts, one of whom stipulated that they identified eleven blunt-force injuries to Green's head. However, they testified that Green's head injuries were entirely "superficial" and "could not have caused his death." They noted that Green had no fractures, no significant bleeding or bruising of the brain, and no swelling of the brain. It was their opinion that Green died as a result of cocaine and alcohol abuse, combined with his physical struggle with police as he resisted arrest, and the minor head injuries. They stated that these things, in combination, caused a surge of adrenaline which overloaded the electrical circuits in Green's brain resulting in brain seizure, respiratory failure, cardiac arrest and death.

Then-Assistant Wayne County Prosecutors Kym Worthy and Douglas Baker tried the case against Budzyn and Nevers. Judge George Crockett III, in Detroit Recorder's Court, presided. The officers were tried together in Detroit after being denied a change of venue. Budzyn and Nevers were allowed separate juries. Both juries were composed of a majority of black citizens (two whites on Nevers' jury, one on Budzyn's), and both juries reached unanimous verdicts.

The testimony of the responding emergency medical technicians (EMTs) was very damaging to Budzyn and Nevers' case. All of them testified that Green was covered with blood and was hanging from the driver's side door when they arrived. The EMTs further said that Nevers struck Green in the head with his heavy police flashlight repeatedly, even though Green was not offering any significant resistance. Two of them stated that Nevers told Green to open his hands and hold still, and that, when he did not, Nevers hit him with the flashlight. They described Green as "dazed" and "stuporous" during the incident, saying that Green was uttering only a few words like "wait" while Nevers was striking him. Lee Hardy, one of the responding EMTs, testified during the separate assault trial for Robert Lessnau that he witnessed the former officer kicking Green in the head while he lay prone on the street.[6]

During the trial, movies were provided for the jurors' entertainment while they were sequestered, including the film Malcolm X. The film depicts scenes of police brutality being perpetrated by white police officers, including the recent beating of Rodney King. It also contains a voiceover that claims white police officers are the direct descendants of the Ku Klux Klan. Both juries were shown the film on at least two occasions during the trial.[7]

On August 23, 1993, the jury found Budzyn and Nevers guilty of second degree murder.[5] Two months later, Nevers was sentenced to serve 12 to 25 years in prison and Budzyn was sentenced to serve a lighter sentence of 8 to 18 years in prison.[8]

On July 31, 1997, the Michigan Supreme Court granted a new trial for Walter Budzyn, mostly on the grounds of showing the movie Malcolm X (the movie's opening scenes show video of the Rodney King incident) to sequestered jury members while they waited to begin deliberating. It was learned that a political appointee of Mayor Young had made it onto the jury, and she was instrumental in showing the movie to jury members. Budzyn was immediately released from prison. He was retried, and on March 19, 1998, he was again found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, and in January 1999 the Michigan Court of Appeals reinstated his four-year prison sentence.[9] He had already served the minimum under the first conviction, and was released.

Larry Nevers' 1997 appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court was denied. However, Nevers was successful on his appeal to a federal court, with United States District Judge Lawrence P. Zatkoff overturning the verdict and ordering his release on December 30, 1997.[3] Zatkoff cited the showing of Malcolm X and its footage of the Rodney King beating video as creating a "harmful effect" on their verdict decision and thus counted as justification for not only overturning his conviction, but also granting him a writ of habeas corpus.[3] In 1999, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed Zatkoff's decision, with the United Supreme Court afterwards denying the prosecution's bid for a writ of certiorari.[10] The appeals court argued that at least one juror in the case was influenced by the perception that a not guilty verdict would lead to riots, threatening the jury's impartiality.[11] Nevertheless, Nevers was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in May 2000. He was sentenced to 7–15 years in prison. In March 2003, this conviction was overturned by the Michigan Court of Appeals, but in September 2003, the Michigan Supreme Court upheld that conviction.[10] On May 13, 2005, Nevers lost a bid to appeal the conviction in federal court.[10] During this process, Nevers was treated for lung cancer and was released in 2001 to serve the rest of his sentence at home.