Impeached NH Supreme Court justice claims Attorney General can’t prosecute her impartially

“Formella and his subordinate attorneys should not have taken this matter before the grand jury and should not be pursuing it now,” the filing claims, demanding that Hantz Marconi seven-count indictment be dismissed entirely.

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

Hantz Marconi faces felony and misdemeanor charges for allegedly telling Sununu on or about June 6 that an investigation into her husband, Geno J. Marconi, the longtime director of the New Hampshire Port Authority, it was without substance and had to end quickly, as she had recused herself due to important pending cases.

The main charge is that she sought to interfere with a criminal investigation by Formella’s office. But her lawyers, Richard Guerriero and Jonathan Kotlier, argue in Wednesday’s filing that the indictment does not allege any secret after-hours meeting between the justice and the governor.

“Essentially, 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 the chief justice told him about her desire to have 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 several ways — not exactly the usual route to corruption,” Guerriero and Kotlier wrote.

In addition, the defense team claims that Formella’s office did not claim that Hantz Marconi asked the governor any “questions.”

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

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

“At the very least, Formella’s career and success were tied to his support of Sununu,” they wrote.

“Objectively,” they added, “there is a reasonable likelihood that Formella’s personal interests with respect to Sununu will materially limit Formella’s ability to be an impartial and fair prosecutor. That is why Formella cannot deal with this case.”

Defense attorneys also argued that Sununu has “unique powers” over the New Hampshire Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Unit because it was created by executive order and not by statute. This could affect the impartiality of the lawyers charged with prosecuting Hantz Marconi, they argued.

When the indictments were announced, Formella said the decision to impeach a sitting Supreme Court justice was “not done easily.” His spokesman said Thursday that the DOJ will respond to the latest filing as appropriate in court.

While she maintains her innocence in the pending criminal case, Hantz Marconi has agreed to suspend her law license for the time being. The four colleagues from the Supreme Court they recused themselves from a disciplinary matter and five substitute judges issued an order He had his license suspended on Thursday.

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

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

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 L @reporterporter.