ST. CLOUD — A judge has overturned a jury’s award of nearly $77,000 to a candidate who was offered the job as chief of the Cold Spring-Richmond Police Department and quit his previous post before the offer was rescinded.

The jury found in August that Eric Johnson relied on an assurance by Cold Spring’s city administrator, Paul Hetland, that the job was his when he quit as police chief in the southwestern Minnesota town of Minneota. Cold Spring rescinded its offer when officials in the central Minnesota city found discrepancies in Johnson’s resume.

Stearns County District Judge John Scherer ruled Wednesday that the law supports the city’s arguments because the city council still had to approve his hiring, according to a press relase. Johnson’s attorney, Betsey Lund, said they’re considering an appeal.

The hiring fell through because Johnson submitted an application that inaccurately said he was certified as a first responder and in CPR. That meant that he didn’t meet the minimum qualifications. Johnson told jurors he read the application as asking whether he had ever had those certifications, not whether they were current.

The judge noted that the proposed contract stated that Johnson wouldn’t be hired until the council approved his contract, and that Johnson testified that he knew in general that he wouldn’t be considered officially hired until then.

Johnson didn’t need to resign so quickly as chief in Minneota, Scherer wrote, and he didn’t withdraw his resignation once he learned he might not be hired in Cold Spring.

“It begs the question of whether there even is an injustice,” the judge wrote.