Good Cops, Bad Verdict is Detroit police officer Larry Nevers's own account of how a good arrest turned into a nightmare that left a stubbornly resisting cocaine user dead and two respected veteran policeman on trial for murder.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
They Were Expendable,
By sp (MD) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Good Cops, Bad Verdict - How Racial Politics Convicted Us of Murder (Paperback)
The policemen in this case were convicted based on the word of crackheads, drug dealers, prostitutes and an EMS technician who was looking for a stress-related retirement.
In rationalizing the managing of the Malice Green Railroad, the philosophy of the Wayne County Prosecutor was: "Well, even a prostitute or drug dealer can tell the truth sometimes", while completely discounting the testimony of a host of "mainstream" witnesses and experts, and the credibility of two policemen with unblemished records compiled over 47+ combined years of serving and protecting some of the most predatory and parasitic residents of the ruins of a once great American city. This book offers a very high resolution look at the people involved in sending 2 policemen to prison for doing their jobs. These officers were sentenced to more time in prison than criminal cops who were caught robbing citizens and drug dealers and a City of Detroit chief of police who embezzled millions from a fund intended to finance narcotics enforcement. Their only crime was being much too naive considering their many years on the job. They mistakenly thought the system was actually in place to support officers who took drugs and guns off the street. Instead, they learned how powerful Detroit's not-so-underground economy of drugs, prostitution, racial politics, apathy and corruption was, and still is. For example: It is revealed in this book, through a memoir written by the Assistant Medical Examiner who conducted the autopsy of Green, that this particular medical examiner believed he had to consider "what was going on in the community" in determining Green's cause of death. What should the community's reaction have to do with the Medical Examiner's findings? The common thread running through the opinion of every experienced policeman who's read this book is: "There but for the grace of God go I". Any policeman who can't relate to the convicted officers in this book hasn't done much policework on the street. There are those employed as law enforcement officers who I've heard say that Nevers and Budzyn got what they deserved. When I try to reconcile this statement with the job assignment of those making it, it's not hard to see that the types of "police officers" who hold this opinion are not the types who would be responding to a citizen's or another policeman's call for help at 3:00am. Instead they are so far removed from the street that their opinion holds no credibility with me. There is a well-known principle in law enforcement management that says a community gets the kind of police service it deserves. I can think of no better example of the truth of this principle than in looking at the handling of the Malice Green case and the current state of the City of Detroit in general, and the Detroit Police Department in particular. The police department of the City of Detroit has an abysmally slow response time to crimes in progress. They have a ridiculously low clearance rate for homicides, and they continually fail to achieve the reforms mandated in a federal consent decree. This is largely due to poor leadership and not because there aren't men and women on the street who don't want to do a good job. This book clearly shows that by holding those who fuel Detroit's underground economy --the prostitutes, the race baiters and the political opportunists-- in higher esteem than cops like Larry Nevers and Walter Budzyn, the citizens of the City of Detroit truly get what they deserve.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good Cops, Bad Verdict, Good Reading,
By
This review is from: Good Cops, Bad Verdict - How Racial Politics Convicted Us of Murder (Paperback)
The true story of two veteran white cops, doing their job, ridding the streets of Detroit of drugs-and what can happen when things turn terribly wrong. While attempting to subdue a black person who is resisting arrest in front of a known dope house, the officers use force that includes striking the perpetrator with a flashlight. With help from other crews, the suspect, Malice Green, is subdued and conveyed to the hospital, where he passes away, allegedly from injuries suffered in the scuffle. Almost immediately, the police chief and mayor brand the officers as murderers and virtually fire them then and there. Responding officers are also suspended. The author and his partner, Wally Budzyn are eventually charged in the death of Green, but not before the city gives several million dollars to Green's relatives to prevent a civil trial. Both officers wind up in prison for several years after a racially charged trial involving questionable characters (witnesses and sworn personnel) and evidence in Detroit.
This book is the journal of Larry's nightmare that occurred after the arrest of Green goes bad. He meticulously points out errors in testimony, forensics and the railroading they faced trying to clear themselves. A real eye opener for anyone who followed the case and a MUST read for any law enforcement officer, especially those who believe it can't happen to them. Because it can-and did-happen.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Terrifying Miscarriage of Justice,
By J. Caldwell (Sharon, PA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Good Cops, Bad Verdict - How Racial Politics Convicted Us of Murder (Paperback)
Larry Nevers paints an extraordinary picture of a criminal justice system run amok. Please accept his invitation to read the Federal Court opinion overturning his first conviction. It is extremely rare for a federal court to overturn a state court criminal conviction that has been affirmed by the state's appellate courts. The egregious misconduct of the Wayne County Porsecutor's Office is terrifying and a reminder of the enormous discretionary power wielded by prosecutors (the vast majority of whom exercise it wisely). Nevers and his partner may have made tactical mistakes and may not have been in the physical condition required of a proactive anti-crime patrol officer, but they certainly were and are not murderers. A tragic miscarriage. The history of institutional racism by the Detroit Police Department is the subject of legitimate debate. But that should not have influenced the judicial review of the incident involving Nevers and his partner.
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