Houston Cops Canned for Nudes Off Suspect's Camera Phone

Downloading nudes from a drunk driving suspect's camera phone last November has two Houston police officers on "indefinite suspension" (fired, for all intents and purposes) following a four-month probe into the incident.

Christopher Green and George Miller stopped and charged a Chinese-born college student with DWI, according to published reports, after which Green got a warrant to search her home—where, allegedly, he transferred nudes from her camera-fitted cell phone to his personal digital assistant.

Green is also believed to have shown the images to other law enforcement officers and court workers, the reports said.

The firings could affect several dozen DWI cases awaiting trial, since the two were assigned specifically to the Houston police's DWI task force. And several area defense attorneys with clients arrested by the pair have told reporters they're likely to use the cell phone incident to attack their credibility.

"The state probably is less inclined to go forward with proving their case with officers who have been terminated from their jobs as police officers," Ned Gill, who represents the Chinese-born student, told the Houston Chronicle. "I think a jury is going to find less credibility in an officer who has been terminated."

The head of the Houston District Attorney's Office misdemeanor division, Marc Brown, told the paper prosecutors would have to deal with the camera phone incident, though he added that he expected Green and Miller would still have to testify in cases involving their arrests.

It wasn't yet known whether Green and Miller would appeal their indefinite suspensions, or whether they might face criminal charges themselves.