TV viewers will be able to rule on Lopez

Judge Maria Lopez is officially scheduled for her TV resurrection.

Lopez, 52, the embattled former Massachusetts Superior Court judge who resigned from the bench in 2003, will preside over a makeshift courtroom next fall in her own syndicated show.

Sony Pictures Television announced yesterday that it has sold a half-hour show called ''Judge Maria Lopez" to stations in at least 15 cities, including Boston -- inaugurating a very public second act for one of the city's most controversial public figures.

It is, in a sense, an unsurprising turn of events. Television judge shows thrive on outspoken stars; Judge Judy Sheindlin, TV's top-rated judge, has a book called ''Don't Pee on My Leg and Tell Me It's Raining."

And controversy dogged Lopez during her 14 years on the Massachusetts bench, where she was known to be outspoken and occasionally caustic.

Lopez's state career ended after she sparked a public outcry for ordering probation -- which critics considered a lenient sentence -- for a transgendered man accused of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old boy. She was also accused of scolding the prosecutor in the case. In 2003, a hearing officer ruled that Lopez had lied under oath and abused her office, and ordered a six-month suspension and a public apology.

Lopez resigned, and later made a deal with the state Commission on Judicial Conduct: She would apologize for berating a court officer without admitting she had violated the judicial code.

She was working on a memoir when her name came up in a conversation between two entertainment industry stalwarts.

Boston entertainment attorney George Tobia and Los Angeles agent Bill Thompson had been brainstorming for ideas for a syndicated show. Judge shows were hot, Thompson had said -- his agency packaged the Judge Judy show -- and the ideal star would be young, Latina, telegenic, and from the East Coast. Tobia said he quickly recommended Lopez, whom he had never met.

Within days, Tobia said, Thompson flew out to Boston, where he dined with Lopez at Radius on a snowy night.

''I had one of those moments where you just know," Thompson said yesterday. ''She was very curious, she wanted to do it. She just had a presence."

Soon afterward, Lopez flew to Los Angeles to take part in the pitch for a syndicated show. Last spring, Tobia said, Lopez inked a six-figure deal to film a pilot.

He would not describe Lopez's expected salary for the syndicated show, except to say, ''it's a healthy deal."

Through her husband, Boston Phoenix publisher Stephen Mindich, Lopez declined to comment yesterday.

When her show hits the air, Lopez will enter a landscape crowded with court shows, many of them helmed by minorities. Still, Thompson has high hopes for her show, which he said has been greenlighted quickly.

''She's got an explosive personality and something to say," Thompson said. ''And that's a recipe for success."

Sony officials said yesterday that in Boston, the show was purchased by WBZ and WSBK, Channels 4 and 38, which share a parent company. A WBZ/WSBK spokeswoman said a deal will probably be finalized in the near future.