"This is a very, very fair sentence," Bugden said later. "The judge didn't give him special treatment. We do have to hold public servants to a higher standard. Mr. Sorensen is a wonderful guy who made a serious mistake."

As in most arraignments, Workman's appearance before 3rd District Judge Judith Atherton was brief. Workman heard the charges against her (one second-degree and one third-degree felony charge of misusing public money), entered her plea and was given a trial date of Feb. 1.

If convicted on both counts, Workman faces a potential combined sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

"Certainly, it's not as early as we wanted . . . but there is no need to have it by Nov. 2 now," Workman attorney Gregory Skordas said.

While Workman was running for re-election (she withdrew from the race last week) Skordas was doing everything he could to schedule the trial before the Nov. 2 general election.

After the arraignment, Skordas defended Workman's use of a doctor's note saying she was unable to continue her campaign due to physical and emotional stress, which may open the way for write-in candidate Ellis Ivory to become the official GOP candidate for the mayor's office.

"I guess none of you have been charged with two felonies and run an election at the same time," Skordas told a crowd of media representatives after the arraignment. "The stress was obviously overwhelming."

Special deputy district attorney Michael Martinez said he was satisfied with the trial date and will not seek a change of venue, even though he has loudly complained that Workman was trying to taint the jury pool with her campaign advertisements saying the case was politically motivated.

"The election will have passed by that time," Martinez said. "Things will have quieted down."

Republican Workman has been especially vocal in her criticism of Democrat District Attorney Yocom, insisting that his prosecution of her was motivated solely by partisan interests.

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E-mail: lindat@desnews.com; aedwards@desnews.com