A former Cape Girardeau police officer was found guilty Friday of filing a false report.

A jury convicted Michelle Gary on misdemeanor charges that she knowingly made false statements to Kevin Wehrle of the Cape Girardeau Police Department, claiming an $800 check was forged by another individual to pay gambling debts. Gary received a sentence of six weeks in county jail and a fine that will be determined later. The jury met for 55 minutes before finding Gary guilty and another 55 minutes to decide the sentence.

"This sets what a Cape Girardeau police offer will receive for this type of crime in the future," Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle said after the trial.

During testimony, Angelo Murray and Chenecia Aldridge said Gary participated in a 10- to 12-hour stretch of gambling at Aldridge's home in mid-July. They said Gary was in uniform and would tell everyone to be quiet whenever she was required to respond to a call. They both said her car was parked out of view from the public.

Murray said Gary left to respond to a call but returned during the gambling session.

Because Gary was unable to pay Murray $360 in gambling losses at Aldridge's home, she asked if she could pay him the following day, Murray said. When they arrived at Gary's home, Murray and Aldridge said she began writing out the $800 check with one hand before switching to finish signing the check with her other hand.

Murray said Gary was giving him $400 to cover the gambling debt plus an extra $40 and said to give her the remaining $400 after cashing the check. The check was later deposited by Murray at the Cape Regional Credit Union but was returned a few days later because Gary's account already had been closed.

"I said to Angelo it was funny she switched it and signed it with her left hand," Aldridge said.

In his testimony, Hank Voelker, a detective with the Cape Girardeau Police Department, recalled his conversation with Gary in which she said Murray had visited her home to borrow $20. Voelker said Gary had told him she suspected Murray had stolen the check while she was out of the room to get the money and then forged it.

Voelker said that after his conversation with Gary he tried to find Murray but was unsuccessful.

Gary's attorney, Al Lowes, said Voelker and others in the police department could have found Murray if they had tried harder.

Lowes said officers should have instead been seeking to investigate Murray for cashing the check. Murray had three prior convictions for stealing.

"You had nothing to do with giving Angelo Murray a free ride on this $800 deposit?" Lowes asked Voelker.

When questioning Bill Bohnert of the Cape Girardeau Police Department, Lowes insinuated that several officials within the police department had specifically targeted Gary in attempts to get rid of her.

"At one point did you or someone else decide to zero in on Michelle Gary?" Lowes asked. "Did you give Angelo Murray a pass and zero in on her?"

In his closing argument, Swingle said Gary thought she had picked the perfect person, Murray, to take the blame for the $800 check.

"The detectives and FBI found out the Cape Girardeau Police Department had a bad cop because she had such a bad gambling problem that it made her a bad cop," Swingle said. "It made her a bad cop because it reached the point that she had to do one of the worst things a police officer can do, and that is file a false police report in order to cover up what she had done."

Lowes said in his closing argument again that he felt Gray was unfairly targeted by those in the police department.

"There's something a little bit wrong over here," Lowes said. "I honestly think they got after her because she's black.

"Black folks do things a little bit differently than we white folks," he said. "If she bends the rule, why wouldn't you just chew her out?"

bblackwell@semissourian.com

243-8600

Pertinent address:

1 Barton Square, Jackson, MO