SANTA ANA, Calif. -- A judge expressed concern Wednesday that high-profile attorney Mark Geragos, who represents Michael Jackson and Scott Peterson, will be too busy to handle a lesser-known client in a 5-year-old embezzlement case.

"This court is going to be way out of line on your priority list as far as in-custody cases, which is what my long-range concern is," Judge Frank F. Fasel told Geragos in Orange County Superior Court.

The Los Angeles lawyer will have a busy schedule this year after being hired to handle the child molestation case against Jackson in Santa Barbara County and the double-murder case against Peterson, which was filed in Stanislaus County and will be tried in San Mateo County.

The Peterson prosecution is a potential death-penalty case, which Fasel acknowledged takes precedence under law.

In Orange County, Geragos represents Jeffrey Hambarian, a longtime trash hauler accused of embezzling $4 million from the city of Orange. Hambarian was arrested in 1999 and is free on bail.

Prosecutors believe Hambarian was the mastermind behind an elaborate series of fraud and embezzlement schemes that inflated city garbage rates.

The case has been delayed several times over the past year at the request of defense attorneys.

Geragos reassured the judge that he will have time to handle the embezzlement case following the Peterson trial, which he believes could take up to four months.

"I in no way want to diminish the importance of this case," said Geragos, who added he wanted to keep the embezzlement case on a "short leash."

"Most attorneys have more than one case," Geragos said outside of court. "You go ask any lawyer in California if they got more than one case."

Deputy District Attorney Ronald Cafferty was frustrated with the length of the case and said he would be "shocked if Peterson starts (on time)." Cafferty previously said he will oppose any more postponements in the trial.

Fasel said he could remove Geragos from the case if it is further extended. But relieving a defense attorney from a case is unlikely because it would make any verdict susceptible to appeal, attorneys said.

"I think this court is stuck in respect to getting Hambarian (case) off the ground at this point in time," Fasel said.

Geragos contended out of court that the delay in getting the case to trial was actually due to appeals that sat before higher courts for more than two years.

The case has already made its way up to the California Supreme Court. In 2002, the justices rejected Hambarian's arguments that Orange County prosecutors had a conflict of interest.

Hambarian maintained that Orange County prosecutors could not try him because an accountant who helped the city of Orange in the fraud case is being retained by county prosecutors and city police in the case.

Fasel ordered Geragos and his client to return to court Feb. 17 for a hearing.