JUDGE ORDERS GUN CASE RECONSIDERED

Jan. 18, 2001 - A federal judge, raising concerns about whether an
anti-gun project might be a bit too zealous, on Wednesday ordered
prosecutors to reconsider the case of a woman who could be sentenced to
a minimum of 63 months in prison for merely posing nude with a weapon in
her hands.

Katica Crippen, 33, of Colorado Springs was arrested by federal agents
last fall after they learned she had posed nude with weapons for her
boyfriend, who then put the photographs on the Internet.

In the photos, Crippen was wearing an ankle bracelet because she was
still serving a sentence for distributing methamphetamine. After she was
arrested, her prison term was reinstated. She is currently serving the
remaining 10 months in a state prison.

Federal law prohibits a convicted felon from possessing a firearm. So
the U.S. attorney's office in Denver charged her with possession of a
firearm by a prohibited person.

Judge Richard Matsch ordered prosecutors into his courtroom Wednesday to
justify the charges, a highly unusual request by the judge.

"I want to know why this is a federal case," he told Assistant U.S.
Attorney Jim Allison on Wednesday.

"Who decided this is a federal crime?"

Matsch said he was concerned whether holding someone else's weapon for a
posed photograph constituted possession or "dominion and control" as the
law reads.

Allison said authorities received information that Crippen had ties to a
motorcycle gang, that she had been convicted of selling methamphetamine,
and that she had boasted to friends she wouldn't hesitate to "cap"
(shoot) a police officer.

"We considered her dangerous. This was a very strong case to me," said
Allison, who also said it was his decision to charge Crippen.

But Matsch questioned whether she had possession or custody of the
firearm. "If a photographer tells her to hold this and pose, is that
dominion and control?" Matsch asked.

Allison argued it was, that she had control of the weapon. He also said
she later was arrested alone in her boyfriend's car, in which there was
ammunition and shell casings that fit the weapons she had posed with.
"This is more than just a person who was caught where weapons were
present."

Matsch said he was "concerned what the federal interest in this is. How
far is this policy of locking people up with guns going to go?"

He was referring to U.S. Attorney Tom Strickland's emphasis on
prosecuting any convicted felon caught in possession of a gun, a part of
the Project Exile program.

Allison, a veteran prosecutor with a rigid reputation, said he was upset
that his judgment had been questioned. To which Matsch shot back: "My
judgment is questioned every day (by appeals courts), and sometimes they
disagree with me."

Matsch ordered Allison and public defender Susan Cushman to reconsider
the case and any plea agreement that Crippen might be considering,
because of the lengthy sentence.

"She may decide to let a jury take a look at it," said Matsch.