Ex-Detroit Officer Found Guilty in Beating Death Retrial

DETROIT — A white former police officer whose murder conviction in the beating death of a black motorist was thrown out because the jury watched “Malcolm X” during its free time was found guilty of manslaughter Thursday at his retrial.

Walter Budzyn, 52, declined to comment and showed the same steely expression he has kept throughout the monthlong trial in the death of Malice Green. Budzyn’s lawyer promised an appeal even though prosecutors said he might be sentenced to time already served. Budzyn was in prison 4 1/2 years before the state Supreme Court reversed his second-degree murder conviction in July.

Members of Green’s family hugged each other and said they were happy with the conviction on the lesser charge. “That’s what I was looking for: the word guilty,” said Treise Green, Green’s sister.

Green, a 35-year-old unemployed steelworker, died Nov. 5, 1992, after a confrontation with Budzyn and his partner, Larry Nevers, in front of a crack house. Green had severe head injuries from at least one police flashlight. He also had cocaine and alcohol in his system when he died.

The film the court cited in reversing Budzyn’s previous conviction opens with videotape of the Rodney G. King beating in Los Angeles with a voice-over from Malcolm X charging that the white man is “the greatest murderer on Earth.”