STEINBERG IS PORTRAYED AS AN ADDICT

STEINBERG IS PORTRAYED AS AN ADDICT

By RONALD SULLIVAN

LEAD: Joel Steinberg, the lawyer accused of beating to death the 6-year-old girl he illegally adopted, was portrayed in court documents released yesterday as a violent cocaine addict who conspired to manufacture a pharmaceutical form of the drug and who would blackmail clients for it.

Joel Steinberg, the lawyer accused of beating to death the 6-year-old girl he illegally adopted, was portrayed in court documents released yesterday as a violent cocaine addict who conspired to manufacture a pharmaceutical form of the drug and who would blackmail clients for it.

Mr. Steinberg was also described by prosecutors as a lawyer who advised his clients to flee the country while released on bail. Moreover, they said, he had a history of violence that reflected his repeated beatings of his companion, Hedda Nussbaum, who has also been charged with second-degree murder in the death of the child, Lisa Steinberg, whom they raised in their Greenwich Village apartment.

The child was found severely bruised and comatose in the couple's apartment last Nov. 2 and died two days later. Charges May Be Dropped

While Mr. Steinberg has been indicted in Lisa's death, Ms. Nussbaum has not, and prosecutors are considering dropping the charges against her on the grounds that she was so battered physically and emotionally by Mr. Steinberg that she was not criminally responsible for the child's death.

The new prosecution evidence was aimed exclusively at persuading Justice Harold J. Rothwax to deny bail to Mr. Steinberg. The evidence was presented Wednesday in a closed court hearing at the request of Mr. Steinberg's lawyer, Ira D. London, on the grounds that public disclosure would deprive his client of Sixth Amendment guarantees of a fair trial.

Justice Rothwax said at the hearing, however, that the disclosure of the evidence, much of it already widely publicized, would not deprive Mr. Steinberg of a fair trial.

He then ordered court transcripts of the hearing to be released yesterday, thus giving Mr. London time to appeal his decision and the Manhattan District Attorney and various New York newspapers and television stations the opportunity to file opposing arguments based on First Amendment guarantees of a free press.

Mr. London, however, declined to appeal, contending that any further delay would keep his client imprisoned on Rikers Island longer. As a result, the transcripts of the closed proceeding were made public yesterday, and Justice Rothwax scheduled a bail hearing for Monday.

In an interview yesterday, Mr. London said Mr. Steinberg denied all of the allegations of the prosecutors.

Allegations of Mr. Steinberg's cocaine abuse, like charges that he battered Ms. Nussbaum, that he was addicted to cocaine, that he amassed almost $2 million of unaccounted money have been publicized. The prosecutors, however, carried the allegations further in the closed hearing, describing the defendant as an out-of-control cocaine addict who had been freebasing the drug since 1981.

Although evidence of buglary tools, stolen automoble radios and cocaine and other drugs seized by the police in the Steinberg apartment was also widely publicized, the prosecutors cited specific new instances of drug involvement and physical violence that they said have not been disclosed. Information Came From Clients

''We have information that he has blackmailed many of his clients by demanding cocaine,'' Assistant District Attorney John McCusker said at the hearing. ''He said he would not perform legal work for them or make court appearances or else he would not be able to be so effective without using cocaine.''

''I assume that the source of that information is the clients themselves?'' Justice Rothwax asked Mr. McCusker. . ''That is correct,'' he replied. ''We are aware,'' he added, ''that several years ago he organized and attempted to operate a plan to manufacture pharmaceutical cocaine,'' or cocaine made synthetically for medical purposes. Advised Others to Flee Country

Mr. London, however, said the prosecution was basing its evidence on drug formulas found in the Steinberg apartment that were written by Ms. Nussbaum for a dictionary of drugs.

Mr. McCusker said: ''We have spoken to other people involved in this venture. We have also spoken to two of Mr. Steinberg's clients who were told by Steinberg that if they were released on bail, and that they should flee the country.''

Mr. McCusker then cited various people, in addition to Ms. Nussbaum, who were physically assaulted by Mr. Steinberg: two previous girlfriends, a physician who also was a business associate and who consequently required plastic surgery, and the wife of a colleague.

In ordering the evidence against Mr. Steinberg made public, Justice Rothwax said the trial would not begin until September and that both sides could deal with the issue of pretrial publicity when they go through the jury selection process.