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GREENSBORO - Testimony resembled a tennis match Wednesday in the trial of a Greensboro police officer accused of illegally accessing a government computer in 2003.

The defense and prosecution went back and forth over the city's computer-use policy and when, if ever, police officers have the right to search a computer.

Witnesses questioned by defense attorney Seth Cohen testified that city policy at the time said any computer connected to Greensboro's system could be searched.

Cohen is trying to prove that Detective Scott Sanders did nothing wrong during a criminal investigation of fellow officer Julius "Jay" Fulmore. Sanders is accused of getting an SBI agent to pull information from Fulmore's computer without the permission of the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, which owned the computer.

Prosecutor Jim Coman, senior deputy attorney general, countered with testimony by city information technology supervisors. They testified that any computer not owned by Greensboro could not be searched without permission of the owners, even if the computer was being used for city business.

A HUD agent testified earlier this week that he did not give permission for Sanders to search the computer.

Sanders, who is suspended from the police department, could face anything from community service to a couple of months in prison if convicted. He also would be unable to continue working in law enforcement in North Carolina.

The computer charge stems from a State Bureau of Investigation inquiry into possible criminal misconduct by various Greensboro police officers. Cohen said Sanders had permission to access the HUD computer and would testify to that Thursday morning when the trial resumes.

HUD Special Agent Mark R. Heinbach testified earlier this week that at one point he told Sanders to contact HUD officials in Atlanta to get the OK but no one was ever contacted. Heinbach could not explain why he let Fulmore use the computer for years after the joint operation into major drug activity in Greensboro had ended.

Fulmore testified Wednesday that he kept using the computer because he was working on multiple task forces at the same time.

He also told jurors that he felt his work on the HUD task force had been "sabotaged." He described a "strained" relationship with Sanders. The two worked together in the former Special Intelligence division.

Cohen tried to establish that officers have searched non-city computers before without being charged with a crime.

Assistant Chief Gary Hastings and a computer forensics detective testified that in 2006 police searched a state court computer on loan to an officer. No one asked permission to access the computer, both said.

Why aren't they charged with illegally accessing a government computer? Cohen asked.

He said the charge against Sanders should be dismissed in light of that testimony.

"There should not be a double standard in the law," Cohen argued. "It's not right."

Coman argued that the two cases differ. Hastings and the detective did not realize the city did not own the computer and believed they could search it.

Sanders, he argued, knew the HUD computer did not belong to the city and he searched it after being denied access.

Contact Jennifer Fernandez at 373-7064 or jennifer.fernandez@news-record.com