PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. - A Mountie who had a sexual relationship with her superior officer has been denied a request for a new hearing by an RCMP panel she said was biased against her.

"The motion is denied," Supt. John Reid ruled Wednesday in the case of Const. Susan Gastaldo.

The panel has already found that Gastaldo, 41, and Staff Sgt. Travis Pearson had a consensual affair, including having sex in a police vehicle and using an RCMP-issued Blackberry to exchange suggestive messages.

Gastaldo maintained during the hearing that she acted under duress and was compelled by her superior to take part in a sexual relationship. In one instance, she said she was sexually assaulted.

The panel was preparing to deliver Gastaldo's punishment, which could have included dismissal, when her lawyer made the motion to void the earlier decision and have a new panel hear the accusations.

Larry McGonigal told the three-member panel that because it heard evidence against Gastaldo when she wasn't present she didn't get a fair hearing.

The two Mounties' hearings were divided and the panel accepted an agreed statement of facts in Pearson's case that McGonigal said his client disputes.

He said the panel accepted evidence that the relationship was consensual as the truth, yet a few days later he was attempting to argue that Gastaldo was forced into a relationship.

"I had no chance when you had already accepted incontrovertible evidence that I submit was not true."

He said he could have challenged the evidence with several witnesses, but was never given that opportunity.

Cpl. Gregory Rose, the lawyer representing the RCMP's E Division in British Columbia, said there was "zero evidence the board was biased."

"It is one of the many attempts by Const. Gastaldo to avoid responsibility for her actions," he said in reply to McGonigal's argument.

Reid agreed with Rose, ruling that the decision of Pearson's case didn't come into play in the Gastaldo decision.

"Clearly the board has been able to partition evidence throughout the hearing and will continue to do so," he said.

Earlier this month, the panel handed Pearson a reprimand and docked 10 days' pay.

The adjudicator said Pearson would have faced much harsher penalties if the allegations had included sexual assault and abuse of authority but those allegations weren't before the panel.

The panel has heard that Gastaldo had an anxiety disorder and was off work when the affair between the two officers began.

She has 14 years' service but has spent just six years on the job after maternity leaves and sick leave.