'WEST WING' CREATOR PLEADS NOT GUILTY IN DRUG CASE

Aaron Sorkin, Emmy Award-winning creator of NBC's hit television series
"The West Wing," pleaded not guilty Wednesday to drug charges stemming
from his arrest two weeks ago at Burbank Airport.

Sorkin, 39, was charged Monday with one felony count each of possession
of cocaine base and possession of hallucinogenic mushrooms. He also is
charged with a misdemeanor count of possession of marijuana.

Sorkin was arrested April 15 after an X-ray machine at a security
checkpoint in the airport detected something suspicious in a carry-on
case. After security personnel searched the case and found tightly
wrapped paper bundles of drugs, police were called, authorities said.

The Studio City resident is due back in Burbank Superior Court on June
4, when Commissioner Kirkland R. Nyby will decide if Sorkin is eligible
for a drug rehabilitation program, said district attorney's spokeswoman
Sandi Gibbons.

Gibbons said Sorkin's chances of being eligible for the drug treatment
were good because he appeared not to have any prior drug-related
violations.

Sorkin, who is free on $10,000 bail, told The Times in a 1999 interview:
"I'm the same as any other addict. I'm only a phone call away from
getting loaded again."

Because only hallucinogenic mushrooms were initially found and Sorkin
had no prior record, prosecutors deemed the crime a misdemeanor and
handed it off to the Burbank city attorney, Gibbons said. But after lab
tests revealed the cocaine base, the case was sent back to the district
attorney as a felony, Gibbons said.

Sorkin's publicist released a statement Wednesday, saying Sorkin is
"genuinely humbled by the situation he is facing. It is his sincere hope
that his actions do not affect or reflect upon those with whom he works,
cares for and respects."