Reminded that the state attorney generals office, not the district attorneys office, is prosecuting the case, William Costopoulos said, Politics do not stop at the county line.

Mr. Costopoulos made the allegations after former Judge Eagen was arraigned before District Justice Alyce Hailstone Farrell. He was charged with accepting kickbacks from people he appointed to handle estates of those unable to take care of their own finances and seeking to obstruct a county grand jury probing the allegations.

Mr. Eagen, accompanied by his wife, Eleanor, and dressed in a blue sport coat and red tie, did not speak and at times seemed uncomfortable, leaning on the magistrates bench. At one point, he sat in a chair normally reserved for witnesses while Mr. Costopoulos spoke with Mrs. Farrell.

Mrs. Farrell set a preliminary hearing for Dec. 7 and indicated she will hear the case.

After the arraignment, Mr. Costopoulos said the prosecution is political, was conceived in politics, and motivated by politics.

The flamboyant Harrisburg-area attorney said his client lost his judgeship due to politically timed and baseless leaks to the media that could only have come from the district attorneys office.

He went on to imply that Mr. Barrasse conceived the investigation to further his own ambition to become a judge.

Last week, Mr. Costopoulos said, it was reported that the district attorney of this county wants the very job, the judgeship, that Judge Frank Eagen once held.

Our intention, he added, is to expose the entire truth about this case in the appropriate forum, which is a court of law, and establish his innocence, which he has always maintained, and to bring to light the dirty politicking in this case.

Mr. Barrasse called Mr. Costopoulos allegations a pathetic excuse for Mr. Eagens criminal conduct.

Its unfortunate that Frank Eagen is not taking responsibility for his actions, Mr. Barrasse said.

He noted that his office as well as federal and state investigators probed the estates looting during Mr. Eagens tenure as Orphans Court judge. That probe led to the arrest of three other people, who all have pleaded guilty to their actions and are in prison.

The district attorney, turning to Mr. Costopoulos allegation that he wants Mr. Eagens position on the bench, noted that attorney Terrence Nealon was appointed to that vacancy.

I never filled out an application or sought his seat, Mr. Barrasse said. I did not do so because I specifically wanted to avoid the appearance of any impropriety.

Mr. Barrasse, however, has stated his interest in a vacancy on the county bench created by the appointment of Judge James Munley to the federal bench.

Because of the interest in the case, Mrs. Farrell indicated she will arrange to have the preliminary hearing in a courtroom of the Lackawanna County Courthouse rather than a magisterial office.

Mr. Costopoulos said he may videotape the proceeding, which, he predicted, will last a day.

Trying to support his contention that the attorney generals office is picking up the district attorneys political ball, Mr. Costopoulos produced an order by Lebanon County Judge Donald Dobbie throwing out a case the attorney generals office prosecuted against a magistrate there.

In his order, Judge Dobbie said it was not the intention of the framers of Constitution that his court be used for the satisfaction of political pique or for the exaction of political retribution, nor is it our intention to permit it to be so used.

Mr. Costopoulos maintained that the same prosecutors who handled that case are prosecuting Mr. Eagen.

Kevin Harley, a spokesman for the attorney generals office, said that was not true.

Deputy Attorney General Patrick Blessington, who is prosecuting Mr. Eagen, was not involved in the Lebanon County case, he said. Mr. Harley said the attorney generals office has appealed Judge Dobbies ruling.

Addressing Mr. Costopoulos political allegations, Mr. Harley said, We, as in this case, follow the evidence wherever it leads. In this particular case, we filed the appropriate charges on Tuesday against Mr. Eagen.

A county grand jury initially investigated the case and issued a presentment in December recommending bribery and obstruction-of-justice charges against Mr. Eagen.