Tresa Baldas

Detroit Free Press

One by one, the verdicts were read.

The first was guilty; the nine others were not-guilty.

For the lawyers of the two convicted Detroit police officers, who now face up to 20 years in prison for corruption, it didn't make sense. And they want the guilty verdict set aside, arguing the defendants were not convicted of stealing anything as they were found not guilty on every substantive count that involved stealing or drug dealing. The only thing they were convicted of was conspiring -- or plotting -- to steal from others, not the actual theft of anything. And that, they argue, is a huge difference.

"How could they convict them of a conspiracy to do something bad when they all agreed that the government did not have proof beyond a reasonable doubt that something bad had happened," said attorney Michael Harrison, who plans to ask U.S. District Judge Stephen Murphy to set aside the guilty conviction.

In the end, Harrison said, he believes the government "threw enough mud at the wall" that made the jury think something bad did happen, so they convicted on the conspiracy count.

But it's obvious that the jury discounted many the wild tales they heard from the government's drug-dealing witnesses, he said, given the nine not-guilty verdicts they delivered on the substantive counts that relied on their testimony.

"I'm very glad the jury saw through that," Harrison said, calling the acquittals " a vindication" of the defense argument that the government's witnesses were liars with an ax to grind. "(The jury) repudiated what the government was trying to sell them. (It's witnesses) are really bad guys. Their testimony really stinks.

Defense attorney Steven Fishman, who represented Watson, agrees.

"It was gratifying to see that the jury clearly rejected most of the government's case, including the testimony of the numerous dope dealers who were given plea deals to testify against the officers," Fishman said.

"The government has the ability to throw in every bad thing ... there's lots of things the jury heard about," Harrison said. " But if the thrust of the conspiracy is conduct which the jury did not believe happened -- then there may be a problem ... The nagging question is: Could a reasonable jury conclude that there was a conspiracy?"

Harrison's comments came after a federal jury on Monday convicted Detroit narcotics officers David Hansberry, 35, and Bryan Watson, 47, on one count of conspiracy to commit extortion, concluding they plotted and schemed to steal drugs and money that were seized during raids. A third Detroit narcotics officer, Arthur (Curly) Neavells, also was charged in the case, but he pleaded guilty early on and testified against the others at trial.

Detroit officer's lawyer in corruption trial: 'It's all spy vs. spy'

Hansberry and Watson were tried alongside co-defendant, Kevlin (Omar) Brown, a longtime friend of Hansberry's, who was acquitted on a single count of extortion.

The jury, which heard testimony from more than 40 witnesses during the five-week-long trial, deliberated for three days before reaching its verdicts. During the trial, jurors heard testimony about staged drug deals, wiretaps, fake cocaine, phony search warrants and lavish spending on everything from luxury sports cars and strippers to hair restoration treatments and shopping sprees at Saks Fifth Avenue. A federal agent testified both officers lived beyond their means, especially Hansberry who owned two Cadillacs, a Corvette and an exotic British sports car while making between $75,000 and $143,000 a year as a Detroit Police Department narcotics officer.

During the trial, an Internal Revenue Service agent said that Hansberry bankrolled his lifestyle with $157,000 in mysterious cash deposits during the 2010-14 scheme. So did Watson, he said, noting Watson made more than $211,000 in unaccountable cash deposits during the same four years. His salary ranged between $44,000 and $96,000 a year.

Prosecutors arguing the police officers hurt Detroit in three ways: Drug money that should have been forfeited went into the officers' pockets. Drugs that should have been taken off the street went back into the neighborhoods. And the drug dealers who should have been locked up went free.

“These defendants tarnished the badge that is worn with honor by their fellow officers, using their power as police officers to steal money and drugs from criminals who have no recourse,” U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said. “Their greed caused them to poison our neighborhoods with drugs and to diminish public trust in police.”

Hansberry and Watson have long adamantly denied any wrongdoing. Their lawyers have argued that both men were good police officers who were trying to take down major drug organizations. Along the way, they met up with drug dealers who got caught doing bad things. And when they got caught, the dealers turned on the officers, lying to save themselves, they said.

The government's case centered on six drug busts referred to as "rips" — short for ripoffs. Prosecutors alleged the officers stole money or drugs they discovered during raids, gave the drugs to the dealers, who would then resell them on the streets and split the proceeds with the officers. Sometimes, prosecutors allege, the officers would set up fake drug busts that worked like this: The dealers would set up a drug buy. The police would roll up on a scene with lights flashing. The unwitting buyer or seller would flee. The officers would grab the money and drugs, which would then be resold on the street, with the officers and their cohorts splitting the money.

Many of the government's witnesses were convicted drug dealers who testified that the officers often used them to set up drug deals so that police could barge in, seize any drugs and money and then split the proceeds with them. According to their testimony, the officers would sometimes seize cocaine, have dealers resell it on the street, and then have them mix up a fake batch of cocaine to turn is as evidence to make it look legitimate. The fake batches contained just a pinch of real coke to test positive, according to testimony.

Prosecutors allege that Hansberry was the leader of the crew that carried out these rips. But Hansberry's lawyer noted that the jury "acquitted them of all six rips."

According to trial testimony, the FBI launched a corruption investigation after first ensnaring several drug dealers, including one who agreed to wear a wire and cooperate with the FBI in its investigation targeting the police. That dealer was Gary Jackson, who was busted by the FBI in a sting operation. Jackson, who agreed to cooperate and wear a wire, then set up Leavells, who got busted selling fake coke to an undercover FBI agent. Leavells then busted Hansberry and Watson by agreeing to wear a wire, to see if he could get them to talk about rips.

They did, prosecutors allege, and they played a one-hour conversation for the jury, during which the officers are heard discussing rips, making money, and avoiding snitches.

Before the feds got to him, Leavells was suspended by the DPD following a raid at a marijuana dispensary, where police drug crew members were caught on video stealing grow lights. Detroit Police Chief James Craig ended up disbanding the department's troubled drug unit, and officers became the target of a federal investigation. An indictment followed.

Tresa Baldas can be reached at tbaldas@freepress.com