By NANCY WEST, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD – Retired Superior Court Chief Justice Tina Nadeau has been assigned to fill in for state Supreme Court Chief Justice Gordon MacDonald in the attorney discipline case against indicted state Supreme Court Justice Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi. MacDonald and the other four justices have all recused themselves from the matter.
Four Superior Court judges have also been appointed to hear the case involving the Attorney Discipline Office’s recommendation that Hantz Marconi be suspended from the practice of law given the indictments against her.
Hantz Marconi has been indicted for two felonies and five misdemeanors for allegedly trying to interfere with a criminal investigation into her husband, Geno Marconi, the director of the Division of Ports and Harbors, who is also on paid leave and has been indicted on charges alleging he violated the Driver Privacy Act.
The indictments allege Hantz Marconi solicited Gov. Chris Sununu to misuse his position and or interfere with the criminal investigation of her husband.
Richard Guerriero, Hantz Marconi’s lawyer, filed a motion last week 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. Within hours of that filing, MacDonald and the other four state Supreme Court justices recused themselves.
“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 against her.
“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 Hantz Marconi relative to that conversation with Sununu and another she allegedly had with Steve Duprey, Sununu’s appointee as chairman of the Pease Development Authority.
Geno Marconi’s indictments were announced the day after Hantz Marconi’s became public.
Geno Marconi was indicted for tampering with witnesses and informants by purposely retaliating against a witness or informant by allegedly providing confidential motor vehicle records pertaining to N.L. to another individual B.C. April 4 in violation of the Driver Privacy Act.
N.L. is believed to be Neil Levesque, the vice chairman of the Pease Development Authority. And B.C. is believed to be Bradley Cook, a longtime friend of Geno Marconi’s who has spoken publicly in his favor.
Bradley Cook of Hampton was indicted for perjury and false swearing. The felony charge alleges Cook was indicted for making a false material statement while testifying before a grand jury Sept. 4 that he did not communicate with/and or receive materials from Geno Marconi relating to the pier permit of N.L.
Because there were no retired Supreme Court justices available to sit on the attorney discipline case, Chief Justice Nadeau was randomly selected from the pool of retired Superior Court justices to serve as a temporary justice, according to the order made public Tuesday.
Superior Court Chief Justice Mark E. Howard, Superior Court Associate Justice David W. Ruoff, Superior Court Associate Justice Daniel I. St. Hilaire, and Superior Court Associate Justice Michael A. Klass have been assigned to sit on this case in place of Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice James P. Bassett, Supreme Court Associate Justice Patrick E. Donovan, and Supreme Court Associate Justice Melissa B. Countway, who have recused themselves, and Supreme Court Associate Justice Hantz Marconi, who is on administrative leave.
Because there were no retired Superior Court justices other than former Chief Justice Nadeau available for assignment to sit on this case, Superior Court Chief Justice Howard and Justices Ruoff, St. Hilaire, and Klass were randomly selected from the pool of full-time Superior Court justices to serve as temporary justices for the attorney discipline case, according to the order entered Tuesday by Supreme Court Chief Justice MacDonald.
In light of the indictments against Hantz Marconi, the Attorney Discipline Office wrote to the Court recommending she be suspended from the practice of law, which the Supreme Court will have to vote on even though she has agreed to the suspension, while maintaining her innocence. It is separate from the criminal indictments against her that will be heard in Merrimack County Superior Court.
No date has been set for the attorney discipline matter.
Cook and Geno Marconi will be arraigned Nov. 27 at 1 p.m. in Rockingham Superior Court. Hantz Marconi is scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 21 in Merrimack County Superior Court.
