DATE: Monday, August 25, 1997               TAG: 9708250094

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: Correspondent Jane Harper researched and wrote this report. 

                                            LENGTH:   57 lines

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO. . . PAUL SCIORTINO?

Paul Sciortino was seeking a third term as Virginia Beach commonwealth's attorney in 1989 and was unopposed when he suddenly withdrew from the race. His decision came after a local judge was charged with ordering a clerk to alter court documents to help Sciortino avoid publicity for a traffic ticket he had received.

Paul Sciortino went into private practice after completing his second term amid controversy as the state government's top lawyer in Virginia Beach. Now 68, he's still practicing law in Virginia Beach, but not on a full-time basis.

``I'm basically retired,'' Sciortino said recently in a telephone interview. ``I just work when I want.''

Sciortino also continues to teach law classes at night for Troy State University. Its main campus is in Troy, Ala., but it offers law courses at military bases, including the Norfolk Naval Base.

Sciortino, a Republican and native of Brooklyn, moved to Virginia Beach in 1967. He joined the commonwealth's attorney's office in 1970 as an assistant prosecutor and worked his way up to deputy and later chief deputy. He first won election as commonwealth's attorney in 1981 and took office in 1982.

Today, Sciortino mostly practices family law, handling divorce, adoption and custody cases. He also does court-appointed juvenile cases in Norfolk and Virginia Beach.

Sciortino said he believes the incident involving his 1989 traffic ticket, issued for making an illegal turn, was misrepresented. Prosecutors alleged that then-District Court Judge Joseph H. Campbell ordered a clerk to alter Sciortino's name on court records. That way, no one in the news media would notice the real ticket-holder and write an embarrassing story during Sciortino's campaign.

But Sciortino says he has put it all behind him.

``They said he fixed my ticket, but he didn't. I went in and pleaded guilty and paid a fine and court costs.'' Campbell, Sciortino said, ``just did it in chambers and not in open court.''

A jury found Campbell guilty of forgery and malfeasance in office. He appealed and won, but he eventually pleaded no-contest to computer trespass. He served six months of house arrest.

Sciortino was never charged with a crime.

Despite the scandal, Sciortino said, he chose to stay in Virginia Beach because it's home and most of his family and his wife's family live there, too.

Asked if he misses politics, Sciortino answered with a quick and firm ``no.''

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