THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, April 28, 1995                 TAG: 9504280532
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT 
DATELINE: SMITHFIELD                         LENGTH: Short :   37 lines

JUDGE REVERSES JURY'S DECISION FAVORING DISMISSED POLICE OFFICER

A federal judge on Wednesday reversed a jury's decision that a fired Smithfield police officer had the right to be reinstated and that he should be paid more than $41,000.

Judge J. Calvitt Clarke Jr. said former police officer Edward P. Hill was the ``architect of his own misfortune'' by refusing to give his police chief documents that Hill said supported allegations of corruption in the Smithfield Police Department.

Clarke said Hill put Police Chief Mark A. Marshall in an ``absolutely untenable situation.''

Hill, a seven-year veteran of the Smithfield Police Department, was fired in September 1992 for insubordination.

Last September, Hill filed a $2.5 million lawsuit alleging violation of his right to free speech and of his civil rights.

In March, a federal jury recommended reinstatement and compensation, but attorneys for the town asked that the verdict be set aside.

William M. Furr of Willcox & Savage, representing Smithfield, said judges rarely set aside a jury's decision. Evidence did not support the jury's finding, he said.

The key issue, Furr said, was Hill's going to the State Police with documents. Hill claimed he had been fired because Marshall knew about that, but Furr said Marshall did not know.

Hill's attorney, Michael F. Imprevento, said he plans to appeal. An appeal must be made within 30 days to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond. by CNB