LARGO -- Attorneys for former Baptist leader Henry J. Lyons filed court papers Friday seeking to cut as much as 16 months from his 51/2-year state prison sentence.

Pinellas attorneys Jay Hebert and Robert Healy filed papers arguing that Lyons should serve his sentence under older, more generous prison rules granting inmates time off for good behavior.

Lyons was convicted of racketeering and two grand theft counts.

His attorneys say the racketeering offense was committed before Oct. 1, 1995 -- before state lawmakers changed the law and required inmates to serve at least 85 percent of their sentences.

Under older guidelines, Lyons could get off early up to 20 days for every month he is incarcerated.

In addition, they are seeking to shave time off Lyons' sentence under a recent Florida Supreme Court ruling that declared a 1995 get-tough-on-crime sentencing law unconstitutional.

The ruling required that many inmates sentenced under provisions of the law be resentenced under older, more generous guidelines.

A judge has not scheduled a hearing for either filing, and it is unclear when that may take place.

Judge to hear motion in scandal

TAMPA -- Pinellas-Pasco Chief Judge Susan Schaeffer will hear a motion involving a subpoena filed last week on behalf of a Hillsborough County bailiff involved in one of the Hillsborough courthouse scandals.

As is standard practice in such cases, Hillsborough Chief Judge Dennis Alvarez had asked Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles Wells to appoint an outside judge to hear the case because it involvesTampa judges.

Jerry Hill, the state attorney for the 10th Judicial Circuit in Polk County who is conducting one of several ongoing courthouse investigations, had subpoenaed records from bailiff Tara Pisano, who reportedly feared for her job after breaking off a romance with Hillsborough Circuit Judge Gasper Ficarrotta. Hill is not investigating the affair, however. He is trying to determine whether Circuit Judge Robert Bonanno broke any laws after entering the empty chambers of a circuit judge for whom Pisano occasionally worked.

Pisano's lawyer objected to the subpoena and filed a motion for it to be quashed on the grounds that the records Hill sought are protected by attorney-client privilege. No court date has been set.

Fire in Ybor City does little damage

TAMPA -- Another fire in Ybor City damaged a historic building Friday, but it was quickly extinguished before causing serious problems.

The fire broke out about 1:50 p.m. in the former Jazz Cellar at Ybor Square. Firefighters found a fire burning in an electrical room on the north side of the building at 1901 N 13th St. Crews brought it under control within 10 minutes. Nobody was injured, and damage was estimated at $5,000.

Much of Ybor Square is closed to the public while undergoing renovation.

Lakeland woman guilty in DUI case

A Lakeland woman charged with DUI manslaughter in the deathof a passenger in her car was convicted of two lesser charges Friday.

Kelly Thomas was found guilty of DUI with serious bodily injury and DUI with personal injury, said Hillsborough Assistant State Attorney Rick Giglio. Thomas originally was charged with DUI manslaughter and DUI with serious bodily injury.

Thomas was arrested after an Oct. 24 crash in which she was driving. Police in Plant City said Thomas was returning from a Tampa Bay Buccaneers game in her 1992 Toyota convertible when she lost control of the caron Coronet Road.

Ronald Crosby, Thomas' boyfriend, and Robert Biedenkapp were passengers in the car. Biedenkapp, a managing partner in Carrabba's Italian Grill in Lakeland, was killed. Crosby was injured.

Former Springer guest pleads innocent in killing

SARASOTA -- A former guest of the Jerry Springer Show pleaded innocent Friday to second-degree murder in the beating death of his ex-wife.

Ralf Panitz, 40, was arrested in July, four days after Nancy Campbell-Panitz's body was found. She was killed on the same day she appeared on the Springer show with Panitz and his new wife in an episode called "Secret Mistresses Confronted."

The trio had a long history of domestic violence complaints against each other. Hours before the slaying, a judge ordered Panitz and his wife Eleanor to stay away from Nancy Campbell-Panitz.

The defense of Ralf Panitz, a German national, had been paid for by the German government because it was concerned he would face the death penalty.

But prosecutors reduced the charge to second-degree murder and Panitz now faces a maximum term of life in prison if convicted. The Public Defender's Office is representing him now.

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Lucy Morgan

From the Times state desk