Naked City

Even before County Court Judge Wilfred Aguilar announced Tuesday that he was resigning from the bench, wannabe successors were politicking in a big way to be his replacement. The Travis Co. Commissioners Court will name a successor to fill the position Aguilar vacates on Jan. 1. The judge has been under pressure to resign his post in light of a DWI charge filed against him in January, as well as a review by the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct, both of which are pending. "For months I've been hearing from people who have not been shy about expressing their interest in the job," says County Commissioner Karen Sonleitner. "I mean," she adds, "the body wasn't even cold." The lobbying intensified in the last three weeks and grew to a fevered pitch last Thursday during a lawyer-infested political fundraiser at the Top of the Marc. Prospective contenders for the job include two justices of the peace -- Elena Diaz and Gisela Triana, who last week was considering a run for a district judge seat; and Jim Coronado, a criminal magistrate in District Court. Also, attorney Leonard Martinez boldly wrote a letter to commissioners in August expressing his interest, the same month the Hispanic Criminal Defense Lawyers wrote to remind commissioners that "There are several among our membership who have expressed an interest in some day being a judge..." As for Aguilar, he's not talking about his decision to resign. Meanwhile, his attorney, David Sheppard, says he and his client are "still in discussion" with Williamson County prosecutors in regard to the DWI charge ...

You don't hear much controversy about the old and stately State Bar of Texas, but some of its members are scratching their heads over bar officials' decision to enact a "provisional status" requirement for new special-interest subgroups of the bar. Funny thing is, the new rule was put in place only after the formation of the unglamorously named Sexual Orientation and Gender Identification Issues Section of the bar. And while some gay and lesbian members privately complain that the provisional status -- meaning the group must have "solid paid membership of over 200" by next April -- is downright prejudicial, Houston attorney Mitchell Katine, past chair of the new group, says "everything's fine now." His optimism comes in the form of an overwhelmingly successful membership drive that has already netted the new group well over 200 paying members statewide ...

The reason the above-mentioned Mitchell Katine was so quick to answer a Chronicle phone call this week is because he thought we were calling on an altogether different gay matter. He'd just received word that his high-profile homosexual conduct case -- Garner and Lawrence v. State of Texas -- has been set for oral arguments before the 14th Court of Appeals in Houston. Katine is representing two Houston men who are challenging the state's sodomy law. The pair was charged with deviant behavior after police, responding to a false report of an armed intruder at a residence, busted through the door and found the two men engaged in sex. For those wanting to hear the arguments in this landmark case, trek on down to Houston on Nov. 3. The court is at 1307 San Jacinto (713/655-2800). Showtime is at 1:30pm ...

Those cocaine rumors keep dogging George W. Bush. This time Texas author J.H. Hatfield goes a step further and writes in his new book that the guv was actually arrested for coke possession in 1972. Web magazine Salon News has the the full dope at http://www.salon.com.