On Tuesday, November 12, 2024, WMUR reported that New Hampshire Supreme Court Justice Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi is seeking to have multiple criminal indictments against her dismissed.
Her legal team presented new court documents outlining their arguments for the dismissal of the charges, which include seven counts. These charges consist of felony counts for attempts to commit improper influence and criminal solicitation of improper influence, alongside several misdemeanor counts.
Justice Hantz Marconi was indicted last month and is currently suspended from her legal duties. Her attorneys maintain that she did not commit any crimes and are pushing for the complete withdrawal of the criminal charges against her. The indictments stem from alleged interactions she had with New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu and Steve Duprey, the director of the Pease Development Authority. Prosecutors assert that these meetings were attempts by Hantz Marconi to sway a criminal investigation involving her husband, Geno Marconi, who serves as the director of the New Hampshire Port Authority.
Hantz Marconi’s legal representatives argue that the conversations in question should be shielded by the First Amendment and state judicial immunity laws. They further contend that neither Governor Sununu nor Duprey had the authority to influence the investigation concerning Geno Marconi.
In response to the ongoing legal proceedings, the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office has opposed a request from Hantz Marconi’s attorneys to have the entire state Department of Justice recused from the case. The attorney general claims there are no legal grounds for such a request and suggests that granting it would effectively provide Hantz Marconi with immunity from prosecution.
Additionally, a panel of superior court judges has been assigned to oversee the disciplinary hearings related to Hantz Marconi’s case. The situation is further complicated by the legal troubles faced by her husband, Geno Marconi, who is accused of witness tampering and falsifying evidence. His attorney has stated that he is innocent and that investigators have found no evidence of financial misconduct or mismanagement related to the port.
Source: WMUR
