Judge’s Yule Spirit Backfires : Courts: A lawyer sitting on Traffic Court bench tries to talk his way out of a ticket, then suspends others’ fines.

A Van Nuys volunteer judge, who on Monday suspended the fines of dozens of traffic violators in the name of Christmas spirit, sheepishly admitted Tuesday that he had tried unsuccessfully to talk his way out of a speeding ticket on his way to court.

Beverly Hills attorney Perry C. Wander said he received a ticket from a Los Angeles police officer in Brentwood as he was rushing to Van Nuys Municipal Court to serve as a temporary Traffic Court judge.

There, he attracted controversy by suspending dozens of fines, telling people to donate instead to a charity toy drive.

The speeding ticket came to light when a source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, tipped off reporters to the citation. Confronted with the information, Wander conceded that he had been stopped Monday by Los Angeles Police Officer Bill Justice.

Wander said he told Justice: “Look, I’m on my way to sit as a Traffic Court judge. I’m going to court, and I’m going to give the people a break. Come on, give me a break.”

“You’ve probably been in my court,” Wander said he told Justice.

Wander said he was driving only a few miles over the 30-m.p.h. limit when he was stopped on Montana Avenue near Centinela Avenue. But Justice said Wander was “going substantially over the speed limit.”

“He was going real fast,” the officer said.

Another officer said police do not cite drivers for speeding in that area unless they are going at least 10 m.p.h. over the limit.

Los Angeles County’s top Municipal Court judge, who is investigating Wander’s courtroom charity spree, called Wander’s apparent attempt to persuade the officer not to write a ticket a serious ethical violation.

“If that happened, that is unethical conduct,” said Presiding Municipal Judge Larry Fidler. “That is an attempt to use his position as a temporary judge to get favors. If a judge does that, he is subject to punishment.

“Certainly during the remainder of my term he will not serve as a judge pro tem,” said Fidler, whose term runs through Dec. 31.

Fidler said a partial review of a tape recording of Wander’s Monday morning court session has already revealed “things that greatly disturb me.”

Fidler said he will refer the matter to the committee that oversees temporary judges for a full investigation.

Audiotapes are made of all proceedings involving the county’s 2,000 judges pro tempore, attorneys who serve as temporary judges presiding over some civil, small claims, traffic and landlord-tenant disputes as part of a program to save the county money.

After listening to part of the tape, Fidler said, “I believe that the transgressions are significant enough that the judgment shown by this particular individual was very, very poor.”

While on the bench Monday, Wander dismissed arrest warrants against people who had failed to appear in court and suspended fines for people accused of such traffic infractions as driving with expired car registration and running a stop sign.

Wander, who has a general practice and has occasionally served as a temporary judge for three years in various courtrooms throughout the county, said he gave breaks to dozens of people, saving some as much as $230 in fines.

In some instances, Fidler said, Wander dismissed tickets solely because “he didn’t like the type of citation.” In others, he gave permission to defendants to attend traffic school, even though they had already attended within the past year. Drivers in Los Angeles County normally are prohibited from attending traffic school more than once a year.

In one case, Wander directly said, “If you donate a toy, I will suspend the sentence.”

“Go out and buy a Mr. Potato Head and pocket the difference,” Fidler quoted Wander as telling another defendant, after waiving a sizable fine.

“He seems to have had an agenda to suspend a case or dismiss the fine no matter what the facts were, and that is absolutely unacceptable in a bench officer.”

Wander’s elderly grandparents, visiting from New York, sat in the courtroom watching, videotaping the proceedings. Wander said they later told him they overheard people saying that he was the best judge they had ever encountered.

Wander stressed that he got the idea for the unusual sentencing when he saw a booth publicizing a California Highway Patrol toy drive at a Century City mall and stressed that he did not suspend the fines to retaliate for the traffic ticket he received.

Wander maintains that he was acting within his judicial discretion.