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FOXBORO - An off-duty Mansfield police officer was acquitted Thursday of vehicular homicide in the death of a 10-year-old local girl when his landscaping truck collided with her bicycle.

But Aaron Fine, 34, was found guilty in Dedham Superior Court of driving negligently so as to endanger and unlicensed operation after a three-day jury-waived trial.

Fine was driving a landscaping truck owned by his family's company when he

collided with Rose Shatz on Dec. 2, 2006, near her Willow Street home.

Shatz's parents, Cliff Shatz and Joni Block, declined comment Thursday. "They're not ready to talk about it yet," said a woman who answered the phone at their home.

Fine's attorney, Daniel O'Malley of Quincy, could not be reached for comment.

Judge Paul A. Chernoff, who presided over the trial, was compelled to issue a memorandum explaining his ruling.

"A jury is always instructed that 'if you find the defendant guilty or not guilty you will say so and you will say no more,'" Chernoff wrote.

"Here, as judge and jury, I feel morally compelled to disregard that instruction and explain my painful and difficult decision to those who do not deserve the tragedy which has befallen them."

The standards for proving responsibility or guilt are different in criminal cases, such as this one, and civil cases, Chernoff said.

Prosecutors proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Fine was guilty of negligent operation, the judge said.

"The violation here is a serious one requiring an appropriate and responsive disposition," he said.

On the negligent homicide charge, Chernoff said that, in a civil case, he would find that "it is more probable than not" that Fine caused "the egregious harm suffered in the accident."

However, because it's a criminal case, Chernoff said prosecutors fell "just short" of proving Fine's guilt "beyond a reasonable doubt." "Not guilty does not mean innocent," Chernoff added.

"It may well be for another day for a civil court to pronounce whether the level of causation warrants a civil verdict of responsibility."

Fine has been on unpaid leave from the Mansfield police pending the outcome of the trial.

Chernoff postponed sentencing to June 25 to review Fine's driving record.

Prosecutors are requesting that the judge sentence Fine to one year in jail and recommend that he lose his license for 10 years, said David Traub, a spokesman for the Norfolk County District Attorney's Office.