More than a year after the agreement was announced, the sudden recusal of a retired judge unanimously selected to review the priests' files has threatened to undo the fragile deal and could send both sides back to court for months. At the same time, an attorney who has been paid by the church to defend accused clergy is fighting to keep those records sealed — and plaintiffs accuse the archdiocese of using him as their proxy.

The developments have been gut-wrenching for alleged victims, who believe the church papers will contain evidence of criminal wrongdoing by church leaders. The Los Angeles settlement — by far the nation's largest — was supposed to close the book on the nationwide church abuse crisis that erupted in Boston in 2002.

"Many of us survivors went to litigation to produce the documents," said Esther Miller, one of more than 500 plaintiffs included in last year's agreement. "People want to move on and heal and they still have our feet to the fire. The money did nothing. It just pays for expensive therapy sessions."

Sanjeev Nanda, 30, who pleaded innocent, was convicted on manslaughter charges in what is known as the BMW case.

The high-profile case has been seen as a test of whether India's judicial system, which has a long history of favoring the well-connected, is willing to hold the wealthy accountable.

Judge Vinod Kumar sentenced three other defendants to prison terms ranging from six months to one year on charges of destroying evidence.

"This is a harsh penalty," said Nanda's attorney, Prem Kumar, adding that he would appeal the verdict in New Delhi's High Court.

However, Ved Marwah, a former police commissioner and a prominent commentator on criminal affairs, said Nanda should consider himself lucky that he didn't get the maximum punishment of 10 years in prison.

A police officer found the weapon when the 22-year-old man arrived for a hearing Tuesday at District Judge Jonathan Grine's office in State College.

The man was arraigned on new charges including possession of a firearm in a court facility and taken to Centre County jail in lieu of $10,000 cash bail.

Court documents indicate the man's earlier actions led court staff members to believe he was armed. Police say he called asking if there was a locked box to store his gun, later entered the office and ran out, returned and checked the court calendar, then took pictures of signs saying weapons are prohibited.

"The main issue is that AT&T's 3G network isn't strong enough to support the millions of people who are iPhone 3G users," Michael Rott, a partner with the San Diego-based law firm Hiden, Rott & Oertle, LLP, told ABCNews.com. "Apple violated [California law] by misrepresenting the actual speed and performance of its 8G and 16G models."

Rott filed the suit in San Diego Superior Court on behalf of iPhone user William Gillis. Rott said Gillis, a former executive with Chicken of the Sea, purchased Apple's flagship 16G iPhone in California for personal use. Despite advertisements touting the new phone's ability to run on the 3G network, he found that the phone frequently regressed to the slower EDGE network, Rott said.

"We're stating that they falsely and deceptively represented their products and services -- both them and ATT," Rott said.

AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel told ABCNews.com that the company doesn't comment on pending litigation.

Apple representatives did not immediately respond to requests from ABCNews.com for comment. But previously, the company also hasn't commented on such suits.

Gillis' complaint asks for appropriate disclaimers to be provided by the companies and for money to be returned to iPhone customers, Rott said.

"The whole thing is by providing consumers with disclaimers -- essentially to disclose complete and accurate info about the product -- you let customers [decide to purchase] your product or another one. [Apple] didn't give that info -- neither did AT&T," Rott said.

A similar complaint was filed against California-based Apple by an iPhone customer in Alabama about two weeks ago.

In that U.S. District Court case, plaintiff Jessica Alena Smith alleged that despite aggressive marketing stating the 3G iPhone is "twice as fast for half the price," the device is actually much slower than advertised and prone to dropping calls.

Both lawsuits followed a string of highly publicized complaints -- from spotty service to dropped calls to slow data speeds.

Despite the onslaught of criticism, many industry observers maintain that Apple customers are a loyal breed willing to withstand the blips.

But some analysts say that though Apple's reputation is certainly strong, it is not impenetrable.

"The more this kind of thing happens, the more the image becomes tarnished," Rob Enderle, an independent technology analyst, told ABCNews.com.

"[Apple is] unique in that they have a fan base that will see them through almost anything," he said. But the word "almost" is important, he emphasized.

"It's getting to the point where it's going to do damage. ... There are enough people who are upset. But if it were anyone else it would have already done more," Enderle said.

When Apple released the first generation iPhone it also had to defend itself against lawsuits brought by dissatisfied customers.

In 2007, Apple was hit with complaints filed in Illinois and California over reported short battery life. The suit filed in California was ultimately withdrawn. The Illinois case is still pending. Apple has moved to dismiss the case but the judge has not yet issued a ruling.

In 2005, Apple compensated some owners of first- and second-generation iPods with $50 of in-store credit or $25 cash to settle yet another class action suit over the batteries in an earlier edition of the iPod.

At a hearing in Kenton, Mauk was on the witness stand Thursday testifying about a long history of foot problems that began before his freshman year at Kenton High School. His lawyers say those foot issues lingered, making Mauk unable to play his first season at Wake Forest. He later transferred to the University of Cincinnati.

Mauk wants to play one more season with the Bearcats but has been turned down five times by the NCAA, most recently Wednesday.

His attorneys have requested a permanent injunction and are arguing that he should be granted a sixth year of college football eligibility.

The Wayne County prosecutor's office, which has charged Kilpatrick with eight felonies in his perjury case, said the plea would take place during a scheduled docket conference before Circuit Court Judge David Groner on Thursday morning.

And while the mayor's lawyers later insisted that no deal had been struck, Kilpatrick spokesman Chris Garrett confirmed negotiations toward a plea were continuing.

It was "apparent that they are close," Kilpatrick attorney James Thomas said late Wednesday, adding that he was unsure if the deal being negotiated included any jail time for the mayor.

The mayor would automatically be expelled from office if he is convicted of a felony. Kilpatrick also faces assault charges stemming from a confrontation in July.

The announcement of a potential deal by the prosecutor's office interrupted an extraordinary hearing Wednesday in which Gov. Jennifer Granholm is tasked with deciding if Kilpatrick should be removed from office for misconduct for his role in an $8.4 million whistle-blowers' settlement.

The governor's spokeswoman, Liz Boyd, said the removal hearing's second day would resume Thursday, an hour after Kilpatrick's appearance ends in Wayne County Circuit Court. A deal to resign would make Granholm's role moot.

The City Council has asked Granholm to use her constitutional authority to expel Kilpatrick for misconduct, saying it was misled when it approved the settlement last year with fired police officers.

Council members said they didn't know the deal carried secret provisions to keep a lid on steamy text messages between Kilpatrick and Christine Beatty, who was his chief of staff, on city-issued pagers.