Cop Cleared on Murder Charge Faces 15 Years

DETROIT — A white former police officer, whose second-degree murder conviction had been thrown out, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter Tuesday in his retrial in the 1992 beating death of a black motorist.

Former Detroit officer Larry Nevers admitted striking Malice Green after a traffic stop on Nov. 5, 1992, but claimed he acted in self-defense. He faces up to 15 years in prison on the conviction.

Green, 35, was clubbed with flashlights by Nevers and Walter Budzyn, who was also convicted of second-degree murder in 1993.

They served more than four years in prison before their convictions were overturned.

Green’s conviction comes two years after Budzyn was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in Green’s death. He was given four to 15 years in jail, but a judge reduced the sentence to time served and he was freed.