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Good Cops, Bad Verdict - How Racial Politics Convicted Us of Murder

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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.

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.

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.

In his riveting first-person account of his 1992 Detroit murder trial, former Detroit Police Officer Larry Nevers strips the veil from the eyes of Blind Justice. The Lady sees! And, as we discover, she tips her scales to achieve a politically correct verdict.

Soon after the Rodney King case in California, Nevers and his police partner Walter Budzyn attempt to arrest Malice Green during a routine drug stop. High on cocaine and alcohol, Green resists. The struggle turns ugly and Nevers strikes Green with his flashlight. Backup officers finally cuff the prisoner. Then to Nevers' amazement, Green dies on the way to the hospital.

Detroit vows not to replay Simi Valley. Within 24 housrs the circus begins and a dazed Nevers and Budzyn are marked for conviction of second-degree murder. Now in the book he vowed to write to clear his name, Nevers shows the underside of City Hall, political ambition, mob rage, the emerging science of cocaine-induced death--and a bevy of "victims" who got rich by suing the city over the case. His story is compelling and a cautionary tale for every police officer in the country.

--Ann Sweeney

I don't read a lot, but i couldn't put this book down. I really feel sorry for Larry and Walter. I wonder how hard it is too be a police officer in Detroit after the railroading those two received. I always thought that police; regardless of what position they hold, was one big family. This book was a good example of reverse racism!

What Larry Nevers and his partner, Walter Budzyn, experienced is nothing short of a nightmare. It's an obscenity! In my opinion, Nevers writes in detail, with verifiable facts and information, about what ultimately led up to their wrongful conviction and incarceration. In fact, Nevers challenges readers to verify any information noted through out the book. I found it to be a difficult book to put down. A must read for anyone who is a law enforcement officer.

This is a must read for anyone wanting to learn about the racial politics being played out in almost every big city police department in the USA. It should be mandatory reading for all police academy students to illustrate to them just what can happen if they "do their job."

This book was hard to put down. As a civilian, it was particularly interesting to me because I learned the real workings of how the justice system railroads people, including it's own, every day in this country. The book will take you through the average work day of a big city police officer and show you just how things can turn bad in a second. And how corrupt city officials and politically appointed police officials conspired to put two innocent men in jail.

After reading this I can't imagine any one in their right minds wanting "To Serve and Protect."

Author Larry Nevers presents a chilling picture of a ruthless, inhumane campaign of racial retaliation against the black perception of police brutality. Sadly, this is not unique in current history and combined with a flawed justice system, results in the destruction of whoever is available. A compelling story, too often repeated in today's society.

A complex, lengthy legal case is so difficult for a defendant to describe, but Mr. Nevers has managed to succinctly outline the series of events, hearings, and decisions made at his precinct and in Detroit Recorders Court which not only ended his career of distinction, but slammed the barred doors closed on two cops for nothing more than doing their jobs. Nevers' first person narrative reads like an uninterrupted, well-thought-out conversational account of this train wreck of events following "a good arrest gone bad" after darkness fell on November 5, 1992. Presented as linearly and logically as possible, Nevers begins with an intriguing description of his duties and challenges as a Detroit Precinct Police Officer, which establishes his solid work ethic and justified pride in his career. He then provides a carefully detailed account of everything he remembers from the night Malice Green died of severe complications from his crack cocaine lifestyle while in police custody for possession and resisting arrest. The book provides an honest examination of the lunatic legal system poisoned by racial politics and a seething spirit of revenge on the part of the judge and jury to crucify Nevers and his partner Budzyn for the unrelated death of Rodney King, and possibly for every transgression, whether real or imagined, made by every white male Detroit police officer against the citizens they pledged to protect dating back to the 50's, the turbulent 60's, the 70's, and the 80's.

Black history cannot ever be factored out, particularly when considering ignorant prejudice behavior and culture propagated by our white forefathers against the black community in Detroit and across the nation during past decades, but officers Nevers and Budzyn were NOT appropriate scapegoats. My heart goes out to Larry Nevers, and his wife and daughter. Read the book, and raise your level of awareness so that future media attacks spouting "police brutality" can be staunched by a community that takes the time to find facts and act quickly. No officer of the law should ever again be erroneously convicted of murder or manslaughter when rationally escalating force to arrest a felon driven by cocaine frenzy, no matter what race either of the parties happens to be.

I HAVE READ THIS TWICE. IT SEEMS TO BE A SCARY SITUATION FOR THESE 2 OFFICERS. THEY MADE A LIVING TAKING CARE OF THOSE THAT SENT THEM TO PRISON. IT DESCRIBE THIS SITUATION IN A VERY DEFINATE MANNER. ONLY AN OFFICER LIKE THIS LARRY NEVERS COULD WRITE THESE THINGS FOR A TIME IN HIS LIFE OF REVIEW.
I WISH IT COULD BE SENT BACK THROUGH THE SYSTEM NOW. THEY SHOULD HAVE HAD BETTER LAWYERS IN THE FIRST PLACE, BUT THEY DID NOT KNOW THIS.
JERRY SPENCE IN WYOMING HOLDS A CLASS AT HIS HOME, FOR THE PRACTICE OF LAWYERS TO LEARN AND TEACH LAW. THIS WOULD BE A GOOD EXAMPLE FOR HIS GROUP. SEND IT TO HIM. SEE IF IT COULD BE REVIEWED.
HAVING THE EXSPERIENCE OF THIS MAGNITUDE,IS LIFE LESSONS. WE ALL HAVE THEM IN OUR LLIVES.