Officials familiar with Obama's deliberations say other people are also being discussed, including names that have not triggered public speculation.

Among those Obama is considering are Solicitor General Elena Kagan, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and U.S. Appeals Court judges Sonia Sotomayor and Diane Pamela Wood. California Supreme Court Justice Carlos Moreno is also under review by Obama.

Sources familiar with Obama's deliberations confirmed the names to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because no candidates have been revealed by the White House. The confirmation amounts to the first time any name has been directly tied to Obama.

More candidates may be added to the list as Obama considers a replacement for retiring Justice David Souter. The president's review process is expected to intensify in the coming days, with a decision expected by or near the end of May.

The appearance of Howard K. Stern and Drs. Khristine Eroshevich and Sandeep Kapoor in Superior Court set the stage for a preliminary hearing that all parties said could last at least two weeks.

Deputy District Attorney Renee Rose said there are 1,400 pages of discovery in the case, which was investigated for two years before charges were filed. Court Commissioner Kristi Lousteau ordered documents in the case sealed, although attorneys said that about a quarter of the material has already been made public.

The hearing was brief and Smith's name was never mentioned.

Stern, Eroshevich and Kapoor stood before Lousteau with their lawyers. The defendants said "yes" when she asked if they were pleading not guilty and when they agreed to delay the matter until June 8 for setting of the preliminary hearing date. They declined to comment outside court.

Stern's lawyer, Steve Sadow, said he wanted the preliminary hearing to begin as soon as possible.

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.