UPDATED

By NANCY WEST, InDepthNH.org

CONCORD – Associate Supreme Court Justice Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi says Chief Justice Gordon MacDonald told her she had every right to speak with Gov. Chris Sununu on behalf of her husband Geno Marconi’s criminal investigation in the June 6 conversation that ultimately led to her being indicted.

Richard Guerriero, Hantz Marconi’s lawyer, filed a motion Wednesday seeking to recuse MacDonald from the case because he told Hantz Marconi that she had a legal right to speak with Sununu before she did so.

“Justice Hantz Marconi did meet with Governor Sununu on June 6, 2024. The meeting was entirely lawful and proper,” Guerriero wrote. Hantz Marconi is innocent, he said, and Chief Justice MacDonald will likely be a material witness in the criminal case.

“One of the key facts demonstrating that the meeting was lawful and proper is that Justice Hantz Marconi communicated with Chief Justice MacDonald prior to meeting with Governor Sununu.

“Justice Hantz Marconi explained to Chief Justice MacDonald that she was considering requesting a meeting with the Governor. The Chief Justice’s response was, ‘I think you can do that – You are a constituent and have concerns.’ Justice Hantz Marconi understood this comment to confirm her view that she had the right to seek to address the Governor, just as any other citizen would have that right,” Guerriero wrote.

 Hantz Marconi was placed on administrative leave by the Court on July 25.

On Oct. 16, Attorney General John Formella obtained indictments against Justice Hantz Marconi relative to that conversation and another she allegedly had with Steve Duprey, Sununu’s appointee as chairman of the Pease Development Authority.

Quick Action Taken

Within hours of Guerriero’s recusal motion, MacDonald and the rest of the Supreme Court justices recused themselves from Hantz Marconi’s professional conduct case on Wednesday.

In light of the indictments, the Attorney Discipline Office wrote to the Court recommending Hantz Marconi be suspended from the practice of law, which the Supreme Court will have to vote on even though she agreed, while maintaining her innocence. No date has been set for the attorney discipline matter because the fill-in judges haven’t been named.

“Each justice whose name is listed below has recused himself or herself from this case. Resolving it would require us to adjudicate the conduct of a current colleague, Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi (the respondent),” the Supreme Court order stated.

“We therefore request that substitute justices be appointed…Our recusal is conditioned upon the availability of substitute justices to participate in this case. In the event that substitute justices are not available, the ‘rule of necessity’ may compel our participation,” the order said.

 “In light of the foregoing, the respondent’s motion to recuse Chief Justice Gordon J. MacDonald is moot and need not be addressed,” the order states.

The order listed as recused Justices Gordon MacDonald, James Bassett, Patrick Donovan and Melissa Countway.

Geno Marconi, Bradley Cook

The day after Hantz Marconi was indicted, Formella released indictments against her husband Geno Marconi of Stratham, the longtime director of the Division of Ports and Harbor, for allegedly violating driver privacy laws, and his friend Bradley Cook of Hampton for alleged perjury. Cook is the chairman of the Division of Ports and Harbors Advisory Council and longtime friend who spoke out publicly in favor of Geno months ago, claiming Gov. Sununu was behind a criminal investigation to force Geno Marconi to resign.

That story can be read here: https://indepthnh.org/2024/10/16/justice-hantz-marconi-indicted-for-attempting-to-interfere-with-criminal-investigation-of-husband-geno-marconi/

Guerriero said in a motion filed Wednesday “…Upon review of the indictments, it is evident that Chief Justice MacDonald is a material witness in the criminal case Hantz Marconi (who) did not commit any crime.

“She is innocent. She denies the allegations in the indictments,” Guerriero said.

He also said during the pendency of the criminal case, Hantz Marconi is not opposing the Attorney Discipline Office’s recommendation that her right to practice law be suspended.

Formella claims that Justice Hantz Marconi committed the crimes of Attempt to Commit Improper Influence, Criminal Solicitation of Improper Influence, Official Oppression, Criminal Solicitation of Official Oppression, Obstructing Government Administration, and Criminal Solicitation of Misuse of Position.

The New Hampshire Constitution provides, in part, that it “is essential to the preservation of the rights of every individual, [her] life, liberty, property, and character, that there be an impartial interpretation of the laws, and administration of justice” and therefore that it “is the right of every citizen to be tried by judges as impartial as the lot of humanity will admit,” Guerriero wrote.

Guerriero said Chief Justice MacDonald is likely to be called as a witness by either Hantz Marconi or Formella in the criminal case or in related matters, including matters before this Court.

“Considering these circumstances, Chief Justice MacDonald is required to recuse himself from this and related matters,” Guerriero said.

Read indictments against Justice Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi Here: https://indepthnh.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Indictments-1.pdf

Read indictments against Geno Marconi here: State of NH v. Geno Joseph Marconi | New Hampshire Judicial Branch

Read indictments against Bradley Cook Here: https://www.courts.nh.gov/media/requested-cases/criminal/state-nh-v-bradley-joseph-cook

Class B felonies are punishable by up to 3.5-7 years in state prison and a fine of up to $4,000.00.  Class A misdemeanors are punishable by up to 12 months in a house of corrections and a fine of up to $2,000.00.

Cook and Geno Marconi will be arraigned Nov. 27 at 1 p.m. in Rockingham Superior Court.

UPDATE: Supreme Court Clerk Timothy Gudas will select the temporary Supreme Court Justices at random to hear the attorney discipline matter against Hantz Marconi even though she has agreed to it, according to court spokesman Av Harris.

Below is the list of Superior Court judges who have expressed a general willingness to serve as a temporary Supreme Court justice.  In any given case, a Superior Court judge might not be able to serve as a result of disqualification or scheduling unavailability. 

Retired Superior Court Judges Tina L. Nadeau, Gillian L. Abramson, Jacalyn A. Colburn

Full-Time Superior Court Judges (Active) Neals-Erik William Delker, John C. Kissinger, Jr., David A. Anderson, Lawrence A. MacLeod, Charles S. Temple, Andrew R. Schulman, Mark E. Howard, David W. Ruoff, Amy B. Messer, Daniel I. St. Hilaire, Martin P. Honigberg, Daniel E. Will, Elizabeth Leonard, Mark D. Attorri, Jackie A. Smith, Anne M. Edwards, James W. Kennedy, Andrew B. Livernois and Jonathan S. Frizzell.