Appeal Panel Hears Lawyers’ Debate on Sentence by Karlins : Courts: Prosecutor argues she should be forced to order prison term for grocer in girl’s death. Her attorney says she followed the law.

A deputy district attorney asserted Wednesday that a judge “overstepped her bounds” in issuing no jail time to a Korean grocer who killed a black teen-ager last year, but the judge’s lawyer said the sentence followed “every letter and sub-letter of the law.”

Amid heavy security in a packed downtown courtroom, Deputy Dist. Atty. Glenn R. Britton urged an appeals court panel to send the highly publicized, politically charged case back to Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Joyce Karlin and order her to sentence Soon Ja Du, 51, to serve a prison term.

Last fall, a jury convicted Du of voluntary manslaughter for shooting Latasha Harlins in the back of the head after an altercation over a bottle of orange juice at a South-Central Los Angeles grocery store March 16.

Karlin gave Du a 10-year suspended prison sentence and ordered her to serve five years’ probation, pay a $500 fine and perform 400 hours of community service. Du could have received 16 years in prison.

Britton said Karlin’s sentence defied the jury’s verdict. He said it was more appropriate for someone convicted of involuntary manslaughter than voluntary manslaughter and maintained that Karlin’s entire approach showed that she was biased toward Du.

The prosecutor said Karlin misunderstood and misapplied a state law requiring prison terms for those convicted of using a gun to commit a crime.

Britton contended that Karlin had erred when she stated at the sentencing hearing in November that the law did not apply to Du. Karlin said the statute is aimed at criminals who arm themselves to commit crimes, not at shopkeepers who obtain guns for protection.

But Donald Etra, Karlin’s attorney, said the judge had properly exercised her judicial discretion. He said she meticulously reviewed all relevant factors under state law and meted out a fair and appropriate sentence.

Etra reiterated Karlin’s contentions that Du had been provoked by Latasha, had no criminal record and was not a threat to the community. He also said that if Karlin made any errors, they were legally harmless and did not warrant returning the case to her for resentencing.

“You can take the sentencing transcript as a paradigm for how careful judges have to be,” said Etra, of the Century City firm Sidley & Austin, who was hired by Karlin to do the oral argument.

The lawyers spent nearly an hour debating an incident that happened in 35 to 40 seconds. The decision precipitated a campaign to recall Karlin, 41, appointed to a judgeship by Gov. Pete Wilson last July after winning considerable praise for her performance as a federal prosecutor. She faces three opponents in a June 2 election.

The case turned on a graphic black-and-white videotape from the internal security camera of the Du family’s Empire Liquor Market. The market had been the scene of several robberies and considerable shoplifting, according to testimony.

Du accused Latasha of trying to steal a $1.79 bottle of orange juice, but two eyewitnesses said the teen-ager--described as a good student with no criminal record--was about to pay for the item.

The tape shows Du grabbing Latasha’s sweater as the girl, who had put the juice in her backpack with half the bottle showing, approached the store counter. While Du grasps Latasha’s sweater and backpack, the teen-ager strikes Du in the face four times, knocking her to the floor behind the counter. The juice falls out of the backpack to the floor.

Du is seen rising, throwing a stool at the Westchester High School ninth-grader and getting a pistol from under the counter. Latasha tries to put the juice back, but Du knocks it away. The teen-ager then turns and starts walking away.

Du is shown on the tape shooting Latasha once in the back of the head, killing her.

When police arrived, they found Latasha’s body on the floor in front of the counter, two $1 bills near her left hand.

Britton disputed contentions in a brief filed for Karlin that Latasha had “provoked Du by a vicious attack.” He said the altercation “was not the crime, and the victim was not on trial.”

Only one of the three judges, Margaret Grignon, asked many questions Wednesday so the panel’s sentiments were unclear, and there was no indication of how soon it would render a decision. The other judges are Herbert Ashby and Roger Boren.