I don't know how many people remember the Malice Green incident in Detroit but I recall the newspapers printed pictures and descriptions of the flashlight used. I believe that most Detroit police were only allowed to carry small lights like Surefires after that. IIRC they were not allowed to carry batons or pepper spray since the mid- '70s so their non-lethal force options were the lights. Below is some info from the Michigan Daily website on the cops legal battle and on the original incident.
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©1998 The Michigan Daily
03-20-98
Conviction made in Budzyn retrial
Judge to sentence former Detroit police officer on April 17
DETROIT (AP) - A white police officer was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter yesterday at his retrial for the flashlight beating death of a black motorist, as jurors opted not to convict him of murder again.
Walter Budzyn had faced second-degree murder charges after his 1993 second-degree murder conviction for Malice Green's death was overturned in part because the jury watched "Malcolm X" during a break in deliberations.
The case had highlighted racial tensions in the city, and jurors in the first trial were aware of fears that violence could break out if Budzyn and his partner were acquitted.
AP PHOTO
Malice Green's daughter, Eneatra Massey, and his widow, Rose Green, react to the verdict in the retrial of former police officer Walter Budzyn yesterday.
Members of Green's family hugged each other as yesterday's verdict was announced and said they were happy with the conviction, even though it was for a lesser charge.
"That's what I was looking for: the word guilty," said Treise Green, Malice Green's sister.
Defense attorney James Howarth criticized the verdict as a "compromise" and said he would appeal.
"In his mind he is innocent and for that reason he should fight on and I will encourage him to do that," he said.
A second-degree murder conviction would have carried a potential life sentence. Involuntary manslaughter is punishable by up to 15 years in prison - but prosecutor Doug Baker suggested that Budzyn might not be returned to prison because of the 4 1/2 years he has already served.
"If that's what the judge seeks to impose (time served), that would not upset me," he said.
As the verdict was read, Budzyn wore the same steely expression he has kept throughout the month-long trial. His daughter, Andy Budzyn-Moleski, started crying and mouthed the word "why?"
Budzyn declined comment. Jurors also did not comment.
Green, an unemployed steel worker, died Nov. 5, 1992 after a confrontation with Budzyn and his partner, Larry Nevers, in front of a crack house.
In overturning his conviction in July, the state Supreme Court cited outside influences to the jury, including the viewing of "Malcolm X." The film opens with videotape of the Rodney King beating in Los Angeles with a voice-over from Malcolm X charging the white man is "the greatest murderer on Earth."
Although no testimony indicated race as a factor in Green's death, the Detroit case was compared to the King beating 20 months earlier because Budzyn and Nevers are white and Green was black.
Nevers, who was tried together with Budzyn and convicted by a separate jury, has admitted he hit Green in self-defense.
A federal judge overturned Nevers' conviction in December, and prosecutors are appealing. If that appeal fails, prosecutors have said they plan to also retry him on murder charges.
The jury in the first trial was made up of 11 black jurors and one white juror. The 1993 trial was held in Detroit Recorder's Court, which drew only jurors who lived in the city. Recorder's Court was later combined with the county system. The new jury was made up of five white women, three white men, three black women and an Asian female.
With the verdict that was rendered by a different jury - a jury that had a different ethnicity than the first one - I would suggest that justice has been served," Archer said.
"This isn't some sort of persecution of these officers," Baker said.
Wayne County Circuit Judge Thomas Jackson set sentencing for April 17.
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