Binns 'reversed his decision' on narcs leading charity event

JIMMY BINNS has changed his mind.

The colorful lawyer said yesterday that he's "reversed his decision" to make the former narcotics officers recently acquitted of corruption the grand marshals of the Hero Thrill Show, an annual fundraiser that Binns says has "given more money to police causes than Carter has liver pills."

Binns - who is a sworn officer with the Darby Township Police Department in Delaware County - has been the CEO of the Hero Thrill Show since 2006.

In an interview last week with the blog Big Trial, Binns announced that Thomas Liciardello, Michael Spicer, Brian Reynolds, Perry Betts, Linwood Norman and John Speiser would lead the event. Binns represented Spicer during the corruption trial.

That case ended May 15 after a six-week trial with the officers walking free of all charges.

Among the evidence prosecutors had used was testimony from suspected drug dealers, who said the ex-cops threatened them, roughed them up and stole from them. One said he'd been kidnapped and held in a hotel by the cops.

Binns told the Daily News that he simply made the announcement about the Hero Thrill Show out of "elation with the verdict," and hadn't discussed the plans with the former officers or their families.

Although he acknowledges that there was some backlash against his announcement on Big Trial, he says it had no bearing on his change of heart.

"I don't want this to become controversial with regard to the Hero Thrill Show," Binns said. "It stands on its own: It's meant to honor the families of police officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty."

Binns said that he hasn't yet selected the grand marshal for the show, but has narrowed it down to a few contenders. The list includes Cathy Burke, the owner of the Irish Pub chain of bars and a frequent supporter of the Police Department.

"It's my prerogative to name whoever I want," Binns said, "but the last thing I want to do is interfere with these men getting their lives back in order, getting their jobs back and getting back to normalcy."

This year's Hero Thrill Show will be held Oct. 10 at the Wells Fargo Center.