Last modified: Wednesday, February 15, 2006 12:50 AM EST Politics charged BY DAVID LINTON / SUN CHRONICLE STAFF NEW BEDFORD -- Bristol County District Attorney Paul Walsh Jr. was accused of election-year grandstanding Tuesday in a case against a former Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High School teacher who faked having cancer and is charged with defrauding friends and co-workers. The sparring between Taunton lawyer Francis O'Boy and Walsh occurred after Heather Faria attempted to plead guilty in New Bedford Superior Court to charges she used more than $30,000 in funds collected on her behalf to pay for a vacation in St. Martin, clothes and a large screen plasma television. However, Walsh, who appeared in court on the case, said he was not prepared to accept Faria's plea. He said he wanted the court to hear testimony from witnesses who were victims of her alleged scheme. `` Frankly,'' O'Boy said afterward, `` 2006 is an election year and the district attorney is trying to make hay with it.'' Walsh was elected in 1990 and may face a challenge this year in the Democratic primary from Fall River lawyer Sam Sutter, a former assistant district attorney for Walsh. O'Boy said he told prosecutors last week that Faria intended to plead guilty at arraignment and blasted Walsh for making a `` rare appearance'' in court in a case that has been handled previously in district court by an assistant district attorney. Judge Robert Kane said he would not hear `` live testimony'' during a hearing for a change of plea, but would listen to victims speak during the sentencing phase, which O'Boy said was the usual procedure in criminal cases. Faria was scheduled for arraignment Tuesday but the court proceeding was postponed to March 21. `` I'm not going to let him trample all over my client,'' O'Boy said. `` She realizes she did something wrong. She's not a bad person. I certainly feel for the people whose trust has been shattered by this.'' Walsh fired back at O'Boy, saying it was `` unusual'' for a person to plead guilty at arraignment in a superior court case and said he wanted witnesses to testify because of the `` aggravating circumstances'' in Faria's case. He said the usual reciting of facts in the case would not benefit the court or let the public `` hear how calculated, how premeditated and how deliberate the scheme was over months, and months and months.'' `` I don't want the Reader's Digest version but I don't want War and Peace, either,'' Walsh said. Prosecutors usually read from police reports or paraphrase grand jury testimony before a defendant offers an admission of guilt. When asked to respond to O'Boy's election year remarks, Walsh replied, `` I think it's always a bad year to rip off cancer patients, whether it's 2005, 2006 or 2007. It's always an awful year to rip off kids and their charitable spirit.'' Walsh said he is angered by comments that Faria made a mistake, saying she took advantage of people's trust and charity to pay for a `` luxury lifestyle.'' `` She cooked up this scheme and lived it up on this scheme. That's not a mistake at all, and that bothers me,'' Walsh said. Walsh said he will ask a judge to send Faria to jail. `` As much as I can get,'' he said when asked how much jail time he would recommend. O'Boy said he would file a sentencing memorandum with the court asking the judge to spare his client prison time in favor of probation with `` full restitution'' and `` considerable time'' working with cancer patients. Faria faces five counts of larceny and one count of fraud. She was accompanied in court by her mother and two uncles. She and her mother declined comment when they left court. DAVID LINTON can be reached at 508-236-0338 or at dlinton@thesunchronicle.com.