RICHARDSON FACES 1 YEAR IN PRISON

Jury Recommends Minimum Sentence For Former Detective

A jury yesterday recommended the minimum sentence -- one year in prison --
for former Metro Narcotics detective Christie Richardson in one of the
largest police corruption cases in Jefferson County.

The jury, which found Richardson guilty of 20 felonies and a misdemeanor on
Thursday, issued a statement saying it recommended the minimum sentence,
along with a $500 fine, because its members believed Richardson was honest
when she became a narcotics detective in 1998.

"We felt that her misdeeds resulted, in part, from extremely lax
enforcement of the (standard operating procedures) and a very permissive
attitude on the part of some of her superiors to liberties which were
taken," read the statement. It was signed "The Jurors."

Jefferson Circuit Judge Steve Mershon released the statement on behalf of
the jury and said the jurors declined to be interviewed.

Richardson's sentencing is scheduled for April 25. Sentencing for her
partner and co-defendant, Mark Watson, who pleaded guilty to 299 felonies,
is March 24. He faces a possible sentence of 20 years in prison.

Both Richardson and Watson were Jefferson County police detectives until
they resigned last year after being indicted.

The jury found Richardson, 36, guilty of one charge of criminal possession
of a forged instrument and 19 counts of tampering with public records, all
of which are felonies. Jurors also found her guilty of official misconduct,
a misdemeanor.

The jurors yesterday recommended one year in prison on each felony, but
recommended that all be served at the same time. Mershon can impose a
lesser sentence than the one recommended by the jury, but cannot set a
greater one.

The jury, which had spent 19 hours over three days deliberating
Richardson's guilt, took less than an hour to reach the sentence
recommendation in the trial, which began Jan. 14.

Richardson was accused of photocopying judges' signatures on warrants and
signing that she had witnessed payments to confidential informants who
either didn't receive the money or said they weren't informants.

During the trial, however, she testified that she trusted her partner and
said he alone was to blame for all the wrongdoing.

While the jury found Richardson guilty on 21 counts, it acquitted her on 15
burglary counts, which were the most serious she faced; 111 counts of
tampering with public records; 129 counts of criminal possession of a
forged instrument; seven theft counts; and one count of bribery.

The jury's handwritten statement contained one other sentence regarding its
decisions on Richardson:

"Our verdicts in the case of the Commonwealth vs. Christie Richardson, as
well as the punishment we fixed, were based on our belief that Ms.
Richardson was a sincere and honest person when she took the position in
Metro Narcotics."

Metro Narcotics was a joint agency of the former Jefferson County and
Louisville police departments. It is now a part of the Louisville Metro Police.

At the time covered in the indictment against Watson and Richardson, which
primarily included all of 2001, the unit was under the control of the
county police.

Sgt. John Butts, who was a platoon supervisor for Watson and Richardson
during the period involved in the indictment, issued a statement through a
metro police spokeswoman: "These were trusted employees, and I feel very
betrayed."

Former Jefferson County Police Chief William Carcara was extremely critical
of Watson and Richardson when news of their suspensions broke early last
year. Yesterday, he said the jury's statement on Richardson was laughable.

"That's a joke," he said. "A person is convicted of all those felonies and
has done what she has done and they want to blame it on lax supervision.
You have to have individual responsibility."

But Richardson's attorney, Steve Schroering, said yesterday that the jury
reached the appropriate conclusion on Richardson's sentence.

"Anybody who thinks it wasn't fair needs to watch the (trial) tape and see
what they think after they see all the evidence," he said.

Richardson, who left the courtroom without commenting, is relieved that
it's over, Schroering said.

Schroering said he will ask Mershon to place Richardson on probation,
rather than send her to prison. If Mershon sends her to prison, however,
she would be eligible for parole in about four months.

Prosecutor Scott Davis said he respects the jury's decision and will oppose
probation for Richardson.

"I'd be kidding you if I said I wasn't a little disappointed, but
ultimately she is guilty of 20 counts and we're happy with that," he said.

Davis offered no response to the jury's statement. But when asked whether
he agreed that the problems in Metro Narcotics went beyond the defendants,
he said the criminal justice system is still open to abuse.

"I didn't investigate beyond these two individuals," he said. "And the
bottom line is, if you have somebody that wants to lie and cheat, they can
lie and cheat. The only thing you need to do to get a bad search warrant is
be willing to perjure yourself and lie to a judge. So you can have the
strictest supervision in the world and still lie and cheat and commit
crimes if that's what somebody wants to do."

Presented with a copy of the jury's statement yesterday, Metro Police Chief
Robert White said a review of all policies is under way as a result of
merger. "And that includes those that relate to how we deal with
informants, warrants, search and seizures," he said.

White said he will review the jury's statement and the case.

"If there is remotely anything that we did to contribute to that, I
certainly have a responsibility to look into that and to address it," he said.

White said he will maintain the Metro Narcotics unit, but will reassign
some of its operations -- those concerning street-level, open-air drug
trafficking -- to the individual districts within the department and those
officers will be under the district commanders.