Cal Millar

Fired constables fight conviction

Rodney Pugh, 37, and Gordon Trumbley, 40, were fired from the force last July after being found guilty of discreditable conduct.

Lawyers for the former officers made submissions to a four-member panel of the Metro police commission yesterday asking for the decision to be overturned or the penalty decreased.

Trumblay's lawyer, Edward Spong, argued the tribunal that convicted the policemen in connection with the Feb. 8, 1984, incident was biased.

"That bias renders it necessary that this board quash the conviction," Spong told the appeal panel.

He complained the trial officer drew conclusion and based the conviction on facts that had not been presented as evidence.

The policemen were charged after Robin Voce complained she'd gone to an underground parking garage and engaged in sexual acts with Trumblay and Pugh.

Voce, 24, complained to police about the incident and agreed to co-operate with internal affairs investigators by wearing a bodypack recorder and meeting the two policemen again.

The woman testified against the policemen at a departmental hearing. She later committed suicide.

Lawyer Douglas Quirt said his client, Pugh, was denied a fair trial when tape recordings made by Voce were admitted as evidence.

Quirt said recent court rulings require police to get court authorizations for bodypack recordings. The hearing was adjourned until June 26.