Pubdate: Wed, 23 Apr 2003
Source: Courier-Journal, The (KY)
Copyright: 2003 The Courier-Journal
Contact:  http://www.courier-journal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/97
Author: Gregory A. Hall
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption - United States)

SENTENCING FOR RICHARDSON IS TODAY

Ex-Detective Richardson Will Be Sentenced Today

Probation Will Be Sought For Ex-Officer

The sentencing today of the second former detective charged in one of 
Jefferson County's largest police-corruption cases could bring one chapter 
of the story of Mark Watson and Christie Richardson to an end.

But the fallout from the bogus search warrants and charges that resulted 
from their work could last for years. Richardson could face additional 
charges, and four lawsuits are pending that include allegations of 
civil-rights violations by Watson, Richardson and the Louisville-Jefferson 
County Metro Government.

The case against Watson and Richardson, who were partners in the Metro 
Narcotics unit, involved allegations of using photocopied judges' 
signatures to create bogus search warrants, reporting payments that 
informants said they didn't get and collecting overtime pay for work that 
wasn't done.

Watson pleaded guilty to 299 felonies and is serving a 20-year prison 
sentence. A jury found Richardson, who was charged with nearly as many 
counts as Watson, guilty of 20 felonies, while acquitting her on the bulk 
of the charges she faced.

Prosecutors are considering whether to ask a grand jury to indict 
Richardson in connection with a search warrant that has a photocopied 
judge's signature and Richardson's signature on it. The warrant was used as 
evidence in Richardson's trial after her co-defendant, Watson, told 
investigators about it during his plea negotiations. Thus far, she has not 
been charged with anything relating to that warrant.

Jonathan Dyar, an assistant commonwealth's attorney and one of the 
prosecutors in the Richardson trial, said the sentence imposed on her will 
not affect the decision about whether to seek new charges against her.

"It's a very real possibility" that additional charges will be sought, Dyar 
said.

Steve Schroering, Richardson's attorney, declined to comment on the 
possibility of new charges, but he defended the jury's verdict and said he 
hopes Jefferson Circuit Judge Steve Mershon follows its recommendation for 
a one-year sentence.

Since the investigation became public last year, eight convictions have 
been set aside involving seven defendants. Charges against 32 defendants 
have been dismissed in 19 cases that were pending in Circuit Court. 
Prosecutors also dropped allegations that were pending before the grand 
jury involving 17 defendants in nine cases.

In District Court, 16 cases have been dismissed or convictions in them set 
aside, according to a spokesman for the county attorney's office.

A review of other cases involving the detectives is ongoing, said Shane 
Young, the chief narcotics prosecutor in the commonwealth's attorney's office.

That review of cases investigated by either of the former detectives is 
expected to continue for the foreseeable future, Young said. He said he 
expects that the number of requests for reviews will begin to taper off in 
a few months.

Young said the possibility of new requests to review old cases could extend 
for years as defendants in the bogus cases get in trouble in the future.

Dyar said he received a letter from an inmate last week challenging the 
legitimacy of his conviction. "It's another one to look at," Dyar said.

Mershon is to set sentence today for Richardson, who will request probation 
in lieu of prison time, Schroering said.

While the jury recommended one-year prison terms on the 20 felonies, it 
also recommended the terms run concurrently. Mershon could reject the 
recommendation and instead set some or all of them to run consecutively, 
something prosecutors said they will request.

Mershon said in a previous sentencing, however, that he rarely departs from 
a jury's recommendation.

Schroering said he doesn't expect to call any witnesses today.

"Christie has since the outset, and always will, absolutely maintain her 
innocence of any criminal conduct," he said. She had maintained that all 
the wrongdoing was Watson's and she had no knowledge of it.

After Richardson's trial, jurors released a statement that faulted a lack 
of oversight by supervisors for some of the detective's behavior.

After the jury made its sentencing recommendation, former county police 
Chief William Carcara indicated the jury wasn't harsh enough and called its 
decision a joke.

Schroering disagreed. "I think its a joke that he would make that type of 
statement without knowing everything that there is to know about the case," 
he said. "It's easy to sit back and make blanket statements about something 
that you really don't know anything about."

Anyone critical of the jury's finding should watch the videotape of the 
entire trial, Schroering said. "If they do that, then they have every right 
to make an informed judgment as to whether they think it was fair," he said.

Early in what was initially the trial of both Richardson and Watson, Watson 
pleaded guilty to the 299 felonies. Watson's plea left Richardson, who 
prosecutors said was the secondary actor but just as responsible as Watson, 
as the lone defendant.

"The general rule is the smaller fish pleads to get the bigger fish," said 
University of Kentucky law professor Allison Connelly, but that doesn't 
mean the reverse can't happen.She defended what prosecutors did in agreeing 
to let Watson to plead guilty, even though he was viewed as the primary target.

"A 20-year sentence is pretty darn stiff," Connelly said. It's possible, 
she said, that had Watson continued in the trial, that the jury could have 
assigned all the blame to him.

"This was a way to get a conviction on both, perhaps," Connelly said. ". . 
. She was still convicted. Probably the sentence isn't what they 
(prosecutors) wanted or believed was fair, but the jury's spoken."

Dyar said he and co-prosecutor Scott Davis agreed to Watson's plea because 
the recommended punishment for him was fair.

"The verdict against her made me even happier with the decision to plead 
him," Dyar said. "It just shows you why you plead cases, because there's 
risk going to trial, especially in the light that Judge Mershon sentenced 
him to the 20 years."

At Watson's sentencing, Mershon said Watson's misconduct furthered 
community mistrust of police and "wreaked complete havoc on the court system."

Four lawsuits are pending against the metro government over the actions of 
the detectives, said Bill Patteson, a spokesman for the county attorney's 
office, which represents the merged government.

One, filed in Circuit Court, is seeking to become a class-action case for 
all the potential plaintiffs whose rights were violated by either 
detective. The other three are filed in U.S. District Court. All allege 
civil-rights violations and are in the early stages.

"The pace will quicken once Christie is sentenced," said Maury Kommor, a 
plaintiff's attorney in the JCircuit Court case. He said many of the 
records needed for that case have been on hold because of the criminal case 
against the detectives.

"We feel that there will be between 300 and 400 members of the class," 
Kommor said. "It's hard to tell completely until we get all of our 
requested records."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom