Gold Coast police officer Superintendent Michelle Stenner has stood trial twice and spent four years facing accusations of lying to Queensland's corruption watchdog.
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But the 48-year-old was acquitted of perjury on Friday after a Brisbane District Court judge directed a jury to hand down a not guilty verdict.
Supt Stenner was charged in 2017 following an investigation into the appointment of Gold Coast Chief Superintendent Terry Borland's daughter Amy to a temporary administrative role at Broadbeach Police Station.
She pleaded not guilty to three counts of perjury at the start of her second trial on Monday.
The prosecution claimed Chief Supt Borland - the number two officer on the Gold Coast - was on leave when he forwarded his daughter's resume directly to Supt Stenner, bypassing standard recruitment channels.
The trial heard Ms Borland needed a job to return from the Northern Territory.
Supt Stenner passed Ms Borland's details to the Broadbeach officer in charge, saying "she had found a person to fill the vacancy at the station".
Key errors in the application were discovered and Supt Stenner was initially charged with misconduct in public office, but that charge was dismissed after the prosecution offered no evidence at a committal hearing in 2018.
Instead Supt Stenner was accused of lying to the state's corruption watchdog during the hearing, with the prosecution claiming she gave false evidence about speaking to three witnesses, including Chief Supt Borland, who were due to be questioned over the employment process.
Supt Stenner's phone calls were intercepted and recorded, with audio being played during the trials.
After four days of hearing the prosecution case Judge David Kent on Friday directed the jury to return a verdict of not guilty after finding none of the three counts could be proven.
Judge Kent said he was asked after the Crown closed its case to decide whether any untruths in Supt Stenner's testimony to the Crime and Corruption Commission, if there were any, were material or important.
"I have concluded that there is no evidence on which you could find beyond reasonable doubt that the relevant statements were material," he added.
Supt Stenner faced her first trial earlier this year, but that jury was discharged in June after one member consulted outside sources during deliberations.
The presiding judge in that trial Judge David Reid was scathing of the behaviour of the single jury member saying someone had deliberately disobeyed clear directions by using "extraneous sources".
"The one juror, and I have no idea who it is, who disobeyed this direction should leave this court with a sense of shame and with a heavy heart," he said.
Supt Stenner also lost a civil case in 2019 to have charges against her dropped.
She was ordered to pay the CCC's and Queensland government's legal costs after failing in that bid.
Supt Stenner was "very much looking forward to returning to work", Queensland Police Commissioned Officers' Union president Daniel Bragg told reporters outside court on Friday.
"It's been four very long years for Michelle and her family," he added.
"They're very, very pleased with this outcome."
Australian Associated Press
