
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, October 13, 1993                   TAG: 9310130072
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: DETROIT                                LENGTH: Short

DETROIT EX-OFFICERS GET PRISON TERMS DEFENDANTS DENY DEATH WAS INTENTIONAL

Two former policemen convicted of beating a motorist to death outside an inner-city crack house escaped life sentences Tuesday, one getting 12 to 25 years behind bars, the other eight to 18 years.

The judge said Larry Nevers and Walter Budzyn must be held accountable even if they didn't intend to kill Malice Green, 35, an unemployed steelworker who suffered at least 14 blows to the head and had part of his scalp torn off.

The dismissed officers - partners known as Starsky and Hutch on their beat - appealed in choking whispers to Judge George W. Crockett III for leniency. They said they didn't mean for Green to die and said he just got out of hand. Crockett responded that it was the officers who got out of hand.

The judge gave Nevers the stiffer sentence, although both were convicted of second-degree murder. A request to extend bail was denied and they were taken to a state prison for processing. They likely will be moved to a federal prison within weeks.

Witnesses during the officers' trial testified they saw the two white officers repeatedly beat Green with their heavy metal flashlights outside a suspected drug house Nov. 5 when he refused orders to open his clenched hand. Green died on the way to a hospital.

"I did not kill Malice Green," Nevers told the judge, his voice shaking. "I never intended to hurt him, to do anything to him other than to arrest him for a felony."

by CNB