EIGHT POLICE OFFICERS ARE ACQUITTED OF CORRUPTION CHARGES IN DETROIT

DETROIT - Eight police officers were acquitted Thursday of charges
that they lied, falsified reports and planted evidence to lock up drug
dealers and other criminals.

The jury, after deliberating for more than three days, found the
officers not guilty of all charges. Nearly 100 witnesses testified
during the trial, which started Feb. 11 and included five days of
closing arguments.

Defense lawyers argued the case was built on the lies of criminals who
wanted to get the Detroit officers off the force. Outside the federal
courthouse Thursday, the officers and their families cried and hugged
each other.

"I'm very happy about this," said Frank Eaman, an attorney for Matthew
Zani. "This was the criminals on the street trying to get the cops off
the street."

Prosecutors say Zani, 37, and William Melendez, 35, were the
"masterminds" of a conspiracy to "run roughshod over the civil rights
of the victims."

Nineteen officers were indicted in the case, dealing another blow to
the embattled Detroit Police Department. The Justice Department has
ordered the department to change how it trains officers, uses force
and houses prisoners.

Ron Scott, a spokesman for the Detroit Coalition Against Police
Brutality, called the acquittals "outrageous."

Three officers in the case pleaded guilty in exchange for leniency and
agreed to testify for the government. In April, U.S. District Judge
Avern Cohn dismissed charges against former officer Stephen Pardo in
the case. The other officers are expected to stand trial later.