Score one for former state trooper Monty Steven Poarch.

Poarch, who has been fighting to regain his job with the state Highway Patrol, was acquitted in Buncombe County Superior Court last week of charges stemming from a dispute over a parking space at an Asheville restaurant, Steve Riley reports.

The daughter of a Durham assistant district attorney was standing in the space, attempting to hold it for her boyfriend's car, when Poarch slowly drove into the space, forcing her out.

Poarch had been found guilty of a misdemeanor assault charge in district court, but appealed to Superior Court. His attorney, Sean Devereux of Asheville, said that after a two-day trial, the jury found Poarch not guilty after only 25 minutes of deliberation.

"At a time when the state is cutting many vital services, it seems odd to take up three days of Superior Court time over a parking lot squabble," Devereux said.

Poarch, however, had much more on the line than a misdemeanor conviction. He has sued to return to the Highway Patrol after he was fired in 2003 for having sex with a woman in his cruiser and at a patrol station.

An administrative judge found that he should be reinstated because other troopers caught in similar or worse behavior had been allowed to remain on the patrol. The decision made public numerous cases of trooper misconduct over the past decade and created a major embarrassment for the agency.

The patrol and the State Personnel Commission rejected the law judge's finding, and Poarch is now trying to win that case in state Superior Court.

Former trooper Monty Steven Poarch's path back to the State Highway Patrol continues to get tougher.

In a trial earlier this month, a Buncombe County district judge found him guilty of a misdemeanor assault charge that involved a dispute over a parking space at an Asheville restaurant. The daughter of a Durham assistant district attorney was standing in the space, attempting to hold it for her boyfriend's car, when Poarch slowly drove into the space, forcing her out.

The conviction would jeopardize Poarch's law enforcement certification, which could cost him his current job as a captain with the Caldwell County Sheriff's Department, and put an end to his battle to get back with the patrol, said his attorney, Sean Devereux of Asheville, reports Dan Kane.

Poarch sued to return to the patrol after he was fired in 2003 for having sex with a woman in his patrol cruiser and at a patrol station.

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The administrative law judge who recommended reinstatement for a trooper fired for having sex in his patrol car has won the N.C. Troopers Association's first-ever "Judge of the Year" award.

Judge Melissa Owens Lassiter received the award for distinguished service, said association President Ron Crawford. The association is a support group for the troopers, but it is not affiliated with the State Highway Patrol, Dan Kane reports.

The association's letter to Lassiter praises her for decisions that are "detailed, well reasoned and illuminating."

"We believe that being an outstanding judge requires many of the same characteristics as being an outstanding trooper: diligent hard work, respect for the people who you serve, the ability to make tough decisions, and the courage to occasionally make unpopular decisions required by the rule of law," the letter said. "We congratulate you on your career as an attorney and as a judge and wish you many more years of distinguished service on the bench."

Lassiter was given a small statue of a trooper.

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A state trooper fired for having sex in a Highway Patrol car and office asked the State Personnel Commission today to reinstate him because other troopers who engaged in similar or worse behavior are still on the force.

Monty Steven Poarch, a trooper for 18 years, was fired in 2003. His attempt to get his job back have rocked the patrol after a state administrative law judge found that he should have his job back despite behavior egregious enough to get him fired, Dan Kane reports.

The case exposed roughly two dozen examples of troopers misbehaving, including those who had extramarital affairs either on or off duty, a trooper who had repeatedly threatened to kill his wife, and a trooper who had exposed himself while in uniform in his patrol car.

Those officers remained on the force.

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