Jurors reached a verdict Saturday in the case of one of three former Detroit police officers accused of fatally beating a motorist. But the decision will not be announced until all three verdicts are decided.
Separate juries heard the cases against two of the former officers, Walter Budzyn, 47, and Larry Nevers, 53. As one jury continued to weigh the evidence against Nevers, the other jury announced that it had reached agreement in Budzyn's case.Monday, Judge George W. Crockett III of the Detroit Recorder's Court decided the case of Robert Lessnau, 33, who is charged with assault. His verdict also remains sealed. The judge has said that all three verdicts will be announced at the same time.
The former officers, who are white, are being tried in connection with the death of a black motorist, Malice Green, who died Nov. 5 after a confrontation with the police outside a house used by drug users.
According to trial testimony, he was beaten after refusing to comply with officers' demands that he open his hand. Witnesses disagreed on what Green was holding, some saying cocaine, others saying keys or a piece of paper.
Green died in an ambulance. The three officers were later dismissed.
All three testified in the trial. Budzyn said he had never hit Green, while Nevers and Lessnau said they had been forced to strike him to protect themselves.
The trial began in early June and has worried people in the Detroit area as it stretched through the summer. Suburban and city police departments have prepared emergency plans in case of unrest, and various community and church groups have urged calm.