DENVER -- A former Boulder police detective who supervised Patsy Ramsey's handwriting analysis testified on Thursday she never filed a report on the session.

Linda Arndt (pictured, left) also said that she took her notes on the analysis with her when she resigned from the department.

Arndt testified in a lawsuit she filed in federal court. The suit claims that police officials violated her rights and ruined her reputation by forbidding her from denying press reports that she bungled the JonBenet Ramsey murder investigation.

Arndt, 40, said that she had trouble finding another job after that. She now earns $8 an hour as a tree-trimmer.

Defense lawyers said that the department couldn't lie to the public about the mistakes Arndt had made and would not publicly defend what individual investigators were doing.

Under cross-examination Thursday by police lawyer Ted Halaby, Arndt said that she did not have time to write a report on Patsy Ramsey's handwriting analysis, although she had reported other events in the investigation.

Patsy Ramsey was tested to see if she was the writer of the ransom note found in the family's home before 6-year-old JonBenet's body was discovered on Dec. 26, 1996.

Halaby said that police did not learn about the existence of Arndt's notes until last year during preparations for the trial of her lawsuit. He said Arndt could have been fired if her superiors knew she was withholding notes.

He also criticized Arndt for not going above her direct supervisor when he did nothing to help her.

Arndt said that she tried and failed to get help from former Chief Tom Koby but did not try to ask his successor, Mark Beckner.

She said that it was clear no one was interested in fixing the situation.

"How many times is it necessary to ask for help and be vulnerable and get no answer?" Arndt said.

Arndt said that she believed false reports about her handling of the investigation were coming from inside the department.

She said that she had trouble establishing rapport with victims and getting information from other departments, and that her credibility was attacked in court.

Arndt was the first detective at the Ramsey home on Dec. 26, 1996, after Patsy Ramsey called 911 and reported her daughter was kidnapped. For nearly three hours, Arndt was the only detective at the home with Patsy Ramsey, her husband John and their friends.

Arndt was criticized for allowing John Ramsey to search the home without an accompanying police officer and for placing a blanket over his daughter's body, possibly contaminating evidence. She also was criticized for not taking statements immediately from the Ramseys.

Police have said that the Ramseys remain under suspicion. The Ramseys, who since have moved to suburban Atlanta, have denied the allegations. A grand jury disbanded without filing charges and the murder case remains unsolved.