Former Judge Convicted of Sexual Battery

Former workers’ compensation Judge Stanley Samuel Feinstein was found guilty Friday of sexual battery but acquitted of a false-imprisonment charge in the sexual assault of a female attorney in his chambers.

Feinstein, 62, of Chatsworth, faces a maximum sentence of four years in prison when he is sentenced May 24 in Van Nuys Superior Court. He remains free without bail.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Bill Seki said that because of Feinstein’s age and lack of prior criminal history, prosecutors would ask that he serve time in County Jail rather than state prison. Although it is common to recommend probation for defendants without criminal records, Feinstein merits some time in jail because he has been accused, though not convicted, of similar sexual assaults in the past, Seki said.

“You don’t expect this from someone who is in a position of trust,” he said.

Conviction of a felony involving moral turpitude is grounds for disbarment, but Seki said he does not know whether any steps have been taken to strip Feinstein of his right to practice law.

The 41-year-old victim, who had also been practicing workers’ compensation law, said she does not want Feinstein to serve a prison sentence but would like him to receive psychological counseling.

“I think he has a problem for which he should get some help,” said the woman, who is suffering psychological problems as a result of the incident. “He should be required to get psychological assistance. I personally feel that he is a sick man. I don’t feel that incarceration would benefit anyone, but I’m glad that he is not working in that position of trust anymore.”

During the trial, which took place not far from Feinstein’s former office in the state office building, his attorney, Philip David Israels, had tried to portray the woman as the aggressor in the incident. He alleged she had set up Feinstein simply to sue him for damages in a civil suit, which the woman filed last month.

“Obviously we’re disappointed with the verdict,” Israels said. “We felt she was not a credible witness. She lied on the stand.”

The seven-woman, five-man jury deliberated a day before reaching its verdict.

Juror Jeanne Wiczek, 38, an insurance office manager, said there was not a single piece of evidence that stood out above the rest in deciding that Feinstein had pushed the 41-year-old woman up against the door of his office and fondled her on March 28, 1994.

But Wiczek said that deciding for acquittal on the false-imprisonment charge was simpler because the incident did not meet the law’s definition.

“We went by the letter of the law,” Wiczek said.

After the attorney reported the incident to police, she secretly recorded a conversation with Feinstein. On the tape, Feinstein is heard apologizing, and at one point said, “I will not do anything like that again.”

Israels never called Feinstein to the stand, instead calling the woman’s co-workers to attack her character. He would not say whether he had erred in keeping Feinstein off the stand.

“Even in hindsight, it’s difficult to say,” Israels said. “We didn’t think the prosecutor presented a case that was beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Israels said Feinstein’s health has deteriorated since the incident. Feinstein was fired shortly after the incident for refusing to cooperate with an internal investigation.

“My client has already paid enormously for whatever happened back then,” he said.

The victim said she has also suffered since the incident and is currently unemployed.

“I felt like I was the one on trial,” she said. “I think that’s what keeps women in similar situations from coming forward. But I knew I was telling the truth, and I was prepared for whatever would happen. I felt it was the right thing to do.”

The woman, a former nurse who became an attorney in 1992, said she does not know whether she will ever be able to practice law again because of the experience.

“Right now I’m thinking that I don’t want to anymore because I’m still going through psychological problems,” she said, “and I don’t feel like I can be the best that I can be.”