Indicted NH Supreme Court justice claims attorney general can’t impartially prosecute her

“Formella and his subordinate attorneys should not have been handling this matter before the grand jury and should not be prosecuting it now,” the filing argues, asking that Hantz Marconi’s seven-count indictment be dismissed in its entirety.

A spokesperson for Sununu did not immediately respond Thursday to a request for comment.

Hantz Marconi is facing felony and misdemeanor charges for allegedly telling Sununu on or about June 6 that an investigation into her husband, Geno J. Marconi, the long-serving director of the New Hampshire Port Authority, was meritless and needed to wrap up quickly because she had reused herself from important pending cases.

The core allegation is that she sought to interfere with a criminal investigation being carried out by Formella’s office. But her attorneys, Richard Guerriero and Jonathan Kotlier, contend in Wednesday’s filing that the indictment doesn’t allege any secret after-hours meeting between the justice and the governor.

“In essence, Formella alleges that one public official openly visited another public official to discuss the effects of a pending matter over which neither had any direct authority,” they wrote, adding that Hantz Marconi told the chief justice about her desire for a meeting before securing a spot on the governor’s official calendar, at which point she met with Sununu in the presence of his legal counsel.

“The meeting was open and documented in multiple ways — not exactly the usual route to corruption,” Guerriero and Kotlier wrote.

What’s more, the defense team contends Formella’s office hasn’t alleged that Hantz Marconi made any particular “ask” of the governor.

Julian Jefferson, an attorney who worked more than a decade for the New Hampshire Public Defender and now teaches at the University of New Hampshire Law School, told The Boston Globe that “an actual solicitation to do something” would seem to be a crucial element of the crimes with which Hantz Marconi is charged.

Beyond the alleged conflict pertaining to his current job, Formella has “personal interests” that create a conflict that warrants his disqualification, the defense attorneys argue, noting that Formella served as a private attorney for Sununu and his businesses, worked on Sununu’s political campaigns, and served as legal counsel to Sununu prior to his nomination in 2021 as attorney general.

“To say the least, Formella’s career and success have been tied to his support of Sununu,” they wrote.

“From an objective point of view,” they added, “there is a reasonable likelihood that Formella’s personal interests regarding Sununu will materially limit Formella’s ability to be an impartial and fair prosecutor. That’s why Formella cannot handle this case.”

The defense attorneys also discussed that Sununu has “unique powers” ​​over the New Hampshire Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Unit because it was created by executive order rather than statute. That could impact the impartiality of the attorneys tasked with prosecuting Hantz Marconi, they discussed.

When the indictments were announced, Formella said the decision to charge a current Supreme Court justice was “not made lightly.” His spokesperson said Thursday that the DOJ will respond to the latest filing as appropriate in court.

While she maintains her innocence in the pending criminal matter, Hantz Marconi agreed to the suspension of her law license for the time being. Her four colleagues on the Supreme Court recused themselves from a disciplinary matter, and five substitute judges issued an order Thursday suspending her license.

The criminal case against Hantz Marconi is pending in Merrimack Superior Court before Judge Martin P. Honigberg, according to court records.

A grand jury in Rockingham County indicted Geno Marconi on felony witness tampering and other charges, and indicted Bradley J. Cook, who chairs the Ports and Harbors Advisory Council, on felony perjury and misdemeanor false swearing.

Geno Marconi, who maintains his innocence, is accused of providing confidential motor vehicle records about one person to another. Cook is accused of lying about it.

Their case is pending before Rockingham County Superior Court Judge Andrew R. Schulman.

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Steven Porter can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @reporterporter.