
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, June 19, 1990                   TAG: 9006190153
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NORFOLK                                LENGTH: Medium

SOERING TRIAL HOLDS OFF SENTENCING FOR JUDGE

The sentencing of General District Judge Joseph Campbell on charges of malfeasance and altering a traffic ticket may be postponed because the presiding judge is tied up in the Jens Soering murder trial in Bedford County.

Circuit Judge William Sweeney, who is presiding over the murder trial, was called in to handle the Campbell trial after the nine Norfolk Circuit Court judges asked not to hear the case.

Campbell's sentencing is set for Wednesday, but the Soering trial may not end that soon. Soering is charged with the 1985 slayings of his girlfriend's parents at their home near Lynchburg.

Campbell was convicted in April of malfeasance in office and forging a public record. The jury recommended he be sentenced to four years in prison.

According to testimony, after Campbell met with then-Virginia Beach Commonwealth's Attorney Paul Sciortino in his chambers, the judge ordered clerks to alter the name on a traffic ticket to disguise Sciortino's identity.

Sciortino was running for re-election, and his driving record was an issue in the campaign. Several years earlier, Sciortino was in a traffic accident while driving a city car. The city was forced to pay more than a $1 million to settle claims from the accident.

Norfolk attorneys have been speculating about how much, if any, time Campbell would serve. Attorneys, who spoke on the condition they not be identified, said it was very rare for a judge to deviate from a jury's recommendation.

Several also pointed out, however, that first-time offenders convicted of forgery seldom are sentenced to any jail time.

Special prosecutor William D. Dolan III of Alexandria, who prosecuted Campbell, said there is the conception that public officials should be held to a higher standard.

"What you are doing is taking the status of the defendant and elevating the status of the punishment. You are saying: `You know better; you have certain opportunities that the other person doesn't,' " Dolan said.

The prosecutor said he has not made up his mind whether to ask the judge for a sentence lighter than the jury's recommendation.

"Only one opinion matters, and that's Judge Sweeney's opinion," he said.

Campbell has maintained his innocence and is appealing his conviction. He is on paid leave from his $79,000-a-year position.

by CNB