Former Judge Gets Year in Jail in Sexual Assault : Sentencing: The penalty surprises the defense, the victim and the prosecutor, who had sought a six-month term.

A former workers’ compensation judge convicted of sexually assaulting a female attorney in his chambers was sentenced Wednesday to one year in County Jail, double the term that prosecutors had sought.

Although Stanley Samuel Feinstein, 62, of Chatsworth faced a maximum sentence of four years in state prison, Deputy Dist. Atty. Bill Seki had asked for only a six-month jail sentence, taking into consideration Feinstein’s age and lack of criminal history.

However, Superior Court Judge Darlene Schempp--quoting from a newspaper editorial about the case--said, “When a judge abuses trust, a serious punishment is appropriate.”

“He was in a position of trust and he abused that position,” Schempp said. “I thought it was pretty aggravated what he did to the victim.”

In addition to the jail time, Feinstein was placed on five years probation and ordered to undergo psychological counseling. He was also given a suspended three-year prison sentence that could be imposed if he violates his probation.

Feinstein, who was fired shortly after the March 24, 1994, incident for refusing to cooperate with an internal investigation, appeared shaken by the sentence, but did not speak and was immediately taken into custody.

Feinstein’s attorney, Philip David Israels, said he was surprised by Schempp’s sentence.

“Here is a man who has already been punished tremendously,” Israels said. “He’s lost his legal career and he’s been humiliated. He was held to a higher standard because he was a judge, which under these circumstances, was not fair. Here’s a man with no criminal record and on the bench since 1972, and now he’s 62 years old and facing the next year in County Jail.”

Israels, who had asked that Feinstein be sentenced simply to probation, maintains that the victim was not credible, and said he plans to appeal the conviction.

Seki, the prosecutor, said he too was surprised by the stiffer penalty.

“I didn’t ask for a longer jail sentence because I didn’t think I could get it,” he said. “But I guess the judge viewed it from the point of view of him being a judicial officer and the trust that goes with it for him to uphold the law.”

The 41-year-old victim did not attend the sentencing because she said she felt Israels had “re-victimized me on cross-examination and I didn’t want to be subjected to any additional slanderous comments.”

In a telephone interview, she said she was “shocked” by the jail sentence.

“I really didn’t think that he was going to have to serve any jail time,” said the woman, who, after Feinstein was convicted in April, said she preferred that the former judge get counseling rather than prison time.

“But I defer to the judge,” she said. “She obviously knows what she is doing. I know that what he did to me was horrible, but there is finally some closure.”

Feinstein was convicted of having pushed the woman up against the door of his office in the State Office Building in Van Nuys and fondling her. After reporting the incident to police, she secretly recorded a conversation with him. On the tape, Feinstein is heard apologizing, and at one point said, “I will not do anything like that again.”

The woman, who is no longer practicing law as a result of the incident, has filed a civil suit against Feinstein seeking monetary damages.