Mitchell "Ed" Karam of Troy, a 76-year-old developer, appeared in federal court in Detroit on Tuesday, nearly a week after he was named in two indictments. The indictments describe schemes to manipulate sports events by paying a jockey and former Toledo basketball and football players.

He was joined in court by Kashif Payne, 24, of Chester, Pa., who left the basketball team in November 2007. Not-guilty pleas were entered on behalf of both men.

Karam often covered his face with his hands as he waited for his name to be called.

"We contest the charges," defense lawyer Brian Legghio said outside court. "We're going to examine the evidence very closely."

The evidence includes phone calls secretly recorded by the FBI, involving Karam, co-defendant Ghazi "Gary" Manni of Sterling Heights, jockey Ricardo Valdes and Toledo players.

Authorities say Karam and Manni bet $407,000 on Toledo basketball games in 2005 and 2006 and paid players to shave points to control the final score. Seven ex-players — three in football and four in basketball — have been charged.

Raafat Dajani (dah-JAHN'-ee) of Arlington, Va., admitted he would intercept donation checks and deposit them in a bank account he secretly set up. He would forge his boss' signature on thank you letters.

The scheme went on from 2004 to 2008, when the group's president confronted Dajani. He admitted his crime and immediately began paying back the $107,520 he took, with $14,000 left as of Wednesday.

His attorneys argued for probation because of his cooperation and remorse. Dajani, a 44-year-old U.S. citizen born in Kuwait and raised in Lebanon, cried in court as he asked for a second chance.

But U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman said the length and sophistication of the crime warranted time at a minimum security prison.

New York's top court ruled Tuesday that police cannot place GPS trackers on suspects' vehicles without first getting a court warrant showing probable cause that the drivers are up to no good.

The Court of Appeals split 4-3 on the issue, with the majority saying the tracker that state police planted on Scott Weaver's van for 65 days starting in 2005 violated his constitutional protections against unreasonable searches.

The ruling overturned both the trial court and a midlevel appeals court. Weaver has been free on bail.

"The massive invasion of privacy entailed by the prolonged use of the GPS device was inconsistent with even the slightest reasonable expectation of privacy," Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman wrote.

Judges Carmen Beauchamp Ciparick, Eugene Pigott Jr. and Theodore Jones Jr. agreed.
They rejected the argument that the satellite tracking device was essentially the same as common police surveillance of vehicles.

An appeals court has rejected a lawsuit against a gunmaker over a 1999 shooting rampage at a San Fernando Valley Jewish center.

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in Los Angeles ruled Monday that a federal law shielding gunmakers from suits over criminal use of their products was constitutional.

White supremacist Buford Furrow wounded five people, including three children, at a Jewish community center in Granada Hills. He later killed a postal carrier.

Furrow pleaded guilty and got life in prison.

Relatives of victims sued Georgia-based Glock Inc., RSR Wholesale Guns Seattle and a Chinese manufacturer. Monday's ruling said Glock and the Seattle dealer were immune. The case against China North Industries Corp. can proceed.

Jonathan Sheldon told a federal appeals court Tuesday that the failure of Muhammad's trial attorneys to tell a judge about their client's mental health issues violated his constitutional right to effective counsel.

A lawyer for the state of Virginia argued that Muhammad's competency was never an issue in his trial for one of the 10 murders committed by Muhammad and teenage accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo. Muhammad was sentenced to death, and Malvo is serving a life term for the 2002 Washington, D.C.-area shooting spree.

The federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., is expected to rule in several weeks.

The White House confirmed the meeting but said it did not indicate a finalization of the president's review process.

"I don't think we're at the point where the president says, `What do you think about these two people?'" White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told The Associated Press on Monday. "The president pledged very early on to consult broadly, and I think Wednesday's meeting does that."

Obama is to talk at the White House with Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Jeff Sessions, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee.

Don Stewart, a spokesman for McConnell, said the Republican leader hopes this is the start of the consultation process and that Obama "follows the lead of previous presidents and has many such meetings over the coming weeks before a nomination is announced."

The White House has ruled out that Obama will name his Supreme Court pick this week.

Souter is retiring in June, and Obama wants to have a nominee confirmed when the next Supreme Court session starts in October.