Judge May Move Karlin From Court Seat in Compton : Legal system: She has been the focus of protest since giving probation to a Korean-born grocer who killed a black girl.

Two months after he refused to move Judge Joyce A. Karlin off the criminal bench, the presiding judge of the Los Angeles Superior Court now says he may reassign the controversial jurist, who has been the target of protests since she granted probation to a Korean-born grocer who killed a black teen-ager.

Presiding Judge Ricardo A. Torres made his remarks Wednesday during a luncheon of the Los Angeles County Bar Assn. He said he intends to shuffle judicial assignments when Gov. Pete Wilson finishes appointing judges to fill 13 vacancies on the Superior Court bench--possibly as early as Friday.

Although Torres said it is a “good possibility” that Karlin will be moved as part of the reorganization, he would not be more definitive. “I’m not going to make a commitment,” he said. “Just watch what happens.”

Both Torres and Karlin have been under fire from members of the black community over the outcome of the case of grocer Soon Ja Du, who was convicted in November of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of 15-year-old Latasha Harlins. Black activists are waging a recall campaign to oust both judges--Karlin for her sentence, and Torres for his refusal to reassign Karlin.

Torres was the keynote speaker at the luncheon at the Biltmore Hotel, and his remarks were billed as an address on the “state of the courts.” But after his speech, the judge was put on the defensive when three members of the Latasha Harlins Justice Committee--including the dead girl’s aunt, Denise Harlins--demanded to know why Karlin was assigned the case and why she remained in the Compton Courthouse, where she sits.

The three, who showed up at the outset of the lunch, ignored pleas from a Bar Assn. official who told them they could stay but tried to dissuade them from asking questions of the judge. At one point, Denise Harlins engaged in a shouting match with Torres, accusing the judge of belittling her and “making jokes” about the Du case.

“I hope you understand,” he replied, over Harlins’ shouts, “that I am not trying to belittle you, I am not trying to make fun of the community. . . . I am not going to be intimidated by the community and told how or when to move the judge out of the area. . . . We simply can’t have that.”

Torres’ response brought applause from the judges and lawyers in the audience. Afterward, the judge was asked by reporters if moving Karlin would create the impression that he is buckling under pressure.

“My plans are based on what I think is best for the court,” Torres said. “If people want to say that I was intimidated, so be it. It doesn’t bother me. I cannot run the court based on listening to what other people are saying.”

But Compton City Councilwoman Patricia Moore, who is leading the recall effort against Karlin and Torres, said the presiding judge “understands the pressure that is on him.” She said she would welcome having Karlin reassigned, but would not drop the recall effort against either jurist.

“We want her out of the Compton court without question,” Moore said. “But the problem with that is that Karlin doesn’t go away. She just moves to another area.”

If Karlin is reassigned, Torres said, it is unlikely that she would be moved to another criminal court. Karlin has expressed a preference for handling juvenile cases, and Torres said he would take her feelings into account if he decided to move her.

Through a spokeswoman, Karlin declined comment.

A former federal prosecutor, Karlin, 40, is a newcomer to the Superior Court bench. She was appointed last summer by Wilson, and began work as a judge in September. The Soon Ja Du case was her first jury trial.

The Du case, which exacerbated tensions between blacks and Korean-Americans doing business in the inner city of Los Angeles, turned on a videotape that showed the grocer and the teen-ager struggling over a $1.79 bottle of orange juice and Du shooting the girl in the back of the head.

Karlin sentenced Du to a 10-year suspended prison sentence, five years’ probation, 400 hours of community service and a $500 fine. The sentence put Karlin at the center of protests; black community activists have picketed the Compton courthouse every week since and have threatened to picket Karlin’s home in Manhattan Beach.

This week, Karlin’s husband, Assistant U.S. Atty. Bill Fahey, asked the Manhattan Beach City Council to enact an ordinance banning picketing.

But at its Tuesday night meeting, the council refused, noting that there has been only one demonstration at the Karlin home by a lone picket.