Read all of the court filings in this case here: https://www.courts.nh.gov/media/requested-cases/criminal/state-nh-v-anna-barbara-hantz-marconi

By NANCY WEST, InDepthNH.org

CONCORD – The lawyer representing indicted state Supreme Court Justice Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi said the case is simple: the indictments obtained by Attorney General John Formella do not allege a crime and should be dismissed.

The alleged conduct – Hantz Marconi’s meeting with then-Gov. Chris Sununu last June and a later conversation with Pease Development Authority chairman Steve Duprey – were protected by the First Amendment as free speech and by judicial immunity, her attorney Richard Guerriero argued Monday in Merrimack County Superior Court.

Hantz Marconi was indicted for allegedly trying to interfere with the criminal investigation into her husband, Geno Marconi, the director of the Division of Ports and Harbors, which is a state agency overseen by the PDA, by speaking with Sununu and Duprey.

“The indictments are in essence that Justice Hantz Marconi spoke to Gov. Sununu and in a different context Mr. Duprey about an investigation of her husband,” Guerriero told Judge Martin Honigberg.

“She expressed her concerns as a wife. She expressed her concerns as a judge and that is the end of it,” Guerriero said.

The small courtroom was filled to overflow Monday with a number of attendees saying afterwards they were there to support Hantz Marconi and her husband. Geno Marconi, 73, was indicted for allegedly falsifying physical evidence by deleting a voicemail/and or voicemails from a phone and for allegedly retaliating against PDA Board Vice Chairman Neil Levesque by providing confidential motor vehicle records pertaining to Levesque to Bradley Cook, in violation of the Driver Privacy Act.

Cook, who had spoken out publicly in favor of Geno Marconi, was later indicted for allegedly lying to the grand jury investigating Geno Marconi. Cook and Geno Marconi have both pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The criminal charges appear relatively minor to critics who have been outspoken in their belief that they are politically motivated.

 At Monday’s hearing, Guerriero said Hantz Marconi’s meeting with Sununu included no allegation or request for a benefit, no allegation of threat of any harm, no ask whatsoever and no illegal activity.

“Our position is that even Supreme Court justices have a right to speak with public officials about matters of public concern and about matters of private concern,” Guerriero said. “We don’t think these indictments – any of them state a crime.”

The state’s own witnesses say there was no crime, Guerriero said.

“Here we have the governor of New Hampshire who says, ‘I didn’t see anything illegal and the legal counsel to the governor, now a superior court judge, who said there was nothing illegal and Steve Duprey who says (Hantz Marconi) didn’t ask for any information, she didn’t do anything inappropriate,” Guerriero said.

He was referring to transcripts of interviews of Sununu and Duprey that were made public recently as part of this case.

“How are these charges supposed to put us on notice of alleged criminal conduct when we don’t see it and the state’s witnesses don’t see it,” Guerriero said.

Assistant Attorney General Joe Fincham argued the case shouldn’t be decided by the judge before trial, but by the jury after they hear all of the evidence.

The grand jury has already decided there was probable cause to bring the criminal charges, he said.

Was it First Amendment intent or was it criminal intent? What was in Hantz Marconi’s mind when she met with Sununu? Was she acting with First Amendment intent or criminal intent as the state claims, Fincham asked.

Those are ultimately questions for the jury in this case, Fincham said.

Guerriero said he requested the grand jury proceedings be recorded, but the state apparently didn’t do so. He said he was concerned about due process and fairness in this case.

“The grand jury process was not fair in this case,” Guerriero said.

Judge Honigberg took the matter under advisement.

Read InDepthNH.org’s previous reporting in this case here: https://indepthnh.org/?s=hantz+marconi