Mr. James is accused of charging more than $58,000 in personal expenses on city-issued credit cards during his two decades as mayor and of selling city land at below market rates to Ms. Riley, who the authorities said then resold the property at an enormous profit.

Judith Germano, an assistant United States attorney, told Judge Martini that Mr. Ashley represented someone referred to in the criminal complaint as “Individual 1.” The person, who is not named in the indictment but who is “close to both defendants James and Riley,” lent $10,000 to Ms. Riley to help her pay for several properties in Newark and later received checks from Ms. Riley, according to prosecutors.

Ms. Germano said the other person Mr. Ashley represented was “an attorney in a number of real estate transactions” that are part of the case. In response, Mr. Ashley said, “I don’t see that there’s a conflict.” The judge told Ms. Germano to submit a brief with her concerns.

During the hourlong court appearance, Mr. James, 71, wearing a dark blue suit, smiled and seemed relaxed, limiting himself before and after the hearing to a single, repeated comment to reporters: “God is good all the time.” He and Ms. Riley, 38, who also pleaded not guilty, waived their right to a speedy trial.

Ms. Riley, whose relatives sat in the small, packed gallery, looked more anxious than Mr. James. She wore a black suit, flipped through legal papers, and did not smile.

Prosecutors said the evidence against Mr. James and Ms. Riley was largely contained in 40 banker’s boxes, each holding roughly 200 documents. Perry Primavera, a special assistant United States attorney, said that the prosecution would call about 60 witnesses, and that the trial would last about 12 weeks. The trial is tentatively set to begin in early February.

Mr. Ashley, a well-known criminal defense lawyer here, once represented Mr. James’s chief of staff, Jackie R. Mattison, who was found guilty in 1997 of taking bribes. After Monday’s court hearing, Mr. Ashley said of the prosecutors: “I didn’t know they were going to try to have me removed. I anticipated it could be an issue. They were never too happy with my representation.”

In court, Ms. Germano said that Mr. Ashley himself could be called as a witness in the case, to give evidence about a personal trip Mr. James and his companions made to Martha’s Vineyard in 2003, which prosecutors said cost the city of Newark more than $3,500.

After both of the parties contacted Microsoft and reported the problem, they were refused reimbursement or replacement discs. That’s when they decided to take legal action.

Microsoft has acknowledged the obvious defects in its consoles with the red rings of death, but they have yet to acknowledge any defects in their console which scratches discs. Perhaps they will have to add on to the $1 billion they’ve already set aside to deal with the red rings.

Shannon Houchin, a former police officer with the Crittenden County Sheriff’s Office in West Memphis, Ark., pleaded guilty today in federal court in Little Rock to a felony civil rights charge.

During his guilty plea, Houchin admitted that he abused his authority as a police officer when, in May 2006, he unnecessarily assaulted an arrestee while at the Crittenden County Detention Facility.

Houchin faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.

“It is unacceptable for law enforcement officials to willfully abuse those committed to their custody,” said Wan J. Kim, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “The overwhelming majority of correctional officers dispatch their difficult duties with honor and professionalism. The Justice Department will aggressively prosecute those who cross the line and violate federal law.”

The Civil Rights Division is committed to the vigorous enforcement of every federal criminal civil rights statute, such as laws that prohibit the willful use of excessive force or other acts of misconduct by law enforcement officials. In fiscal year 2006, nearly 50 percent of the cases brought by the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division involved such prosecutions. Since fiscal year 2001, the Division has convicted 50 percent more defendants for excessive force and official misconduct than in the preceding six years.

Today’s plea resulted from the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. Civil Rights Division attorneys Christine Dunn and Karen Ruckert handled the case for the Justice Department.

"Their efforts to keep the results secret are understandable," Tennille wrote in his May decision. "The shocking incongruity between class benefit and the fees ... leave the appearance of collusion and cannot help but to tarnish the public perception of the legal profession."

Sears is appealing Tennille's decision and declined to discuss the case.

Gary Shipman, a Wilmington lawyer who led the class action lawsuit, attacked Tennille's order as wrong on the law and filled with factual errors. Shipman complained that Tennille issued his ruling out of the blue, two years after the last hearing in the case. And Shipman said the judge did not have jurisdiction and therefore did not have the power to make decisions in the case.

"Do you think Judge Tennille's word is the Gospel?" Shipman asked. "There is so much in that order that is wrong."

But a top consumer advocate said Tennille's objections had merit.

"Good for the judge," said Ira Rheingold, the executive director of the National Association of Consumer Advocates, which advises and lobbies for lawyers who bring class action lawsuits.

"Cases like this make it look like a get-rich scheme for attorneys," Rheingold said. "The attorneys collect all the fees, and the consumers get no benefits."

Inflated charges

In 2002, Shipman filed one lawsuit in Wilmington and another lawsuit in Chicago, where Sears has its headquarters.

The lawsuits alleged that Sears charged clients for pricier four-wheel alignments on cars which can only be serviced with less expensive two-wheel alignments. Although the inflated charge is a few dollars for each customer, Sears stood to make millions of dollars from the alleged scheme, given the retail giant's nationwide presence.

Shipman said his lawsuit was inspired by one filed in New Jersey. In that case, the New Jersey attorney general combed through Sears records and identified 12,544 New Jersey residents who had paid too much for alignments. Sears agreed to give $10 cash to each person and to give $500,000 to the Attorney General's Office for consumer protection and expenses.

No notices posted

Tennille criticized the method Shipman used to locate the estimated 1.5 million customers who had been overcharged. Tennille faulted Shipman and his fellow lawyers for not insisting that Sears post notices and place claim forms on the counters of Sears' 843 automotive centers around the country. Sears' billing records were not used, nor were lists of Sears credit card holders.

Rather, Sears advertised in newspapers, which courts have recognized as the least effective way of finding class members -- "an essentially futile gesture," the judge wrote. Sears put notices in newspapers in 25 of the country's largest wheel alignment markets and in Parade magazine and USA Weekend, which are inserted in weekend newspapers across the country.

The newspaper notice produced 317 valid claims nationwide.

"Doing the math in this case is easy," the judge wrote. "For each class member who received a $10 check or $4 coupon, plaintiffs' counsel received just shy of $3,000."

According to Shipman, an expert witness estimated that the newspaper advertisements reached 79.24 percent of the claimants in Sears' top 25 markets for alignment sales.

"We certainly believed more people would take advantage of a 100 percent refund," he said. "We don't know if they found out about it. Many times people just don't want to fill out a claim form."

Defending the fees

Shipman said the legal fees were not excessive because they were based on how much time he and his colleagues from six other law firms had spent on the case.

"Sears had paid their attorneys more than what we had been paid," Shipman said.

Shipman said he never hid results from Tennille. He said that the judge in the Chicago lawsuit had jurisdiction in the case and that Tennille had no authority to issue orders. Shipman said he would have given an accounting of the lawsuit had Tennille asked, and did supply the figures in May 2005.

Though Tennille's order was strongly worded, the judge conceded he cannot undo the settlement approved by the Illinois court in 2005.

Shipman and his fellow lawyers have "been more than adequately compensated by the Illinois court," Tennille wrote. "There is nothing this court can do about that."