NOTEBOOK -- steve marble

Somewhere in Las Vegas, Sid Soffer is smiling.

Soffer, who has been a fugitive for the better part of five years now,

has tangled and fought with authorities most of his life -- an Orange

County version of Abbie Hoffman, a man who delights in messing with the

system.

But Soffer met his match years ago in a woman named Susanne Shaw. You

could say, I suppose, that she enjoyed a tactical advantage. Soffer was a

restaurant owner, a landlord, a guy who liked jazz, white T-shirts and

old Cadillacs. Shaw was a judge. Enough said.

One day Soffer ended up in Shaw’s courtroom on a code violationbeef. That

in itself wasn’t unusual. Soffer had a long and colorful history of

duking it out with the authorities over code violations, entertainment

permits and the like. With Soffer, even the the most pitiful little

infraction became a Herculean battle, a crusade of epic dimensions.

He’s just that kind of guy.

But Shaw was just as tough and stubborn as Soffer. And when theCosta Mesa

resident showed up in her courtroom on a code violation rap over a piece

of rental property he owned, Shaw showed just how no-nonsense she was.

She sentenced Soffer to 30 days in jail.

He did his time at the James Musick Honor Farm, a moderately comfy lockup

for lightweight bad guys. He played chess, watched television, shot pool

and tried to stay out of trouble.

And, being in the restaurant business, he paid close attentionto the

food.

“The potatoes taste like crap and the rice is undercooked andvery

sticky,” he observed during one interview from the honor farm.

“There just doesn’t seem to be any pride in the preparation,” he added.”

Soffer did his time, but the code violation matter just wouldn’t go away.

City officials said he refused to make the needed repairs at his Bernard

Street rental property. Soffer said the city was just out to get him. And

like so many matters in Soffer’s City Hall dealings, the details became

fogged up and tangled.

So Soffer’s case landed before Shaw again. And when the beardedrestaurant

owner caught word that he was staring down the barrel at another stint in

jail -- this a likely five-month sentence -- he pulled together his

account books, jumped in his 1977 Cadillac and roared off to Las Vegas.

Word was that Soffer skipped town just minutes before thecounty marshals

showed up to take him into custody.

Shaw, of course, had the last word. She issued a $250,000 benchwarrant

for his arrest, a huge amount for a fairly trifling misdemeanor. Later,

just to rub a little salt in the wound, Shaw raised the arrest warrant to

the ultimate level -- no bail. That’s what killers are held on.

And Soffer’s been in Vegas ever since.

In Vegas, where everything is knocked slightly out of proportion, Soffer

just didn’t stand out the way he did in Costa Mesa. But in his absence,

Shaw has now emerged as a news item herself.

A former deputy district attorney who has -- hmm, what shall wesay here?

-- a singular style in the courtroom, Shaw is taking heat from the

Judicial Performance Commission, a panel that investigates the behavior

and performance of jurists.

The Newport Beach judge is accused, by some, of making hurtfuland

derogatory remarks to both lawyers and defendants in her courtroom.

In one case, she dressed down a D.A. during a drunk driving case,

allegedly suggesting that the prosecutor’s soon-to-be father-in-law was a

noted drinker. In another case, she supposedly called a drunk driving

suspect a “rich, spoiled Irvine kid.” And in another, Shaw apparently

mockingly sang a verse or two from a Christmas carol to a man who’d been

arrested during the holidays.

Though there’s much discussion and deliberation left to do, Shaw risks

being booted off the bench. Lesser sanctions or wrist-slappings are

possible, too.

Funny. A veteran judge could be booted for calling a twice-arrested drunk

driving suspect a “rich, spoiled Irvine kid” and a colorful, fun-loving

restaurateur is a fugitive because of some arcane code violation.

Now I’m not defending Shaw. And I’m not defending Soffer. Both,I’m pretty

well certain, can take care of that themselves.

But if Shaw has abused her office -- and I certainly have no evidence she

has -- it was the day she slapped a bail usually reserved for murder

cases on a guy who got on the wrong side ofsome code enforcement officer.

* STEVE MARBLE is the managing editor of Times Community News. He can be

reached at o7 [email protected]