This is a breaking story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
The state Judicial Conduct Committee has filed formal charges against retired state Supreme Court Justice Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi for conversations she had while on the bench with then-Gov. Chris Sununu and PDA Chairman Steve Duprey about her husband Geno Marconi when he was the director of Ports and Harbors and under criminal investigation.
The charges and notice of hearing were posted on the JCC’s website Thursday citing Canon 1 of the Code of Judicial Conduct that states: “A judge shall uphold and promote the independence, integrity and impartiality of the judiciary and shall avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety.”
The charges also said, “A judge shall act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the independence, integrity and impartiality of the judiciary and shall avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety.”
Hantz Marconi released the following statement Thursday through her attorneys, Richard Guerriero, Oliver Bloom, and Jonathan Kotlier:
“The formal charges filed by the Committee are unnecessary. As the Committee admits, long ago I acknowledged the rule violation for not recognizing how my meeting with the Governor might appear and how others might misconstrue it. I acknowledged that violation in person and in writing.
“I also said that I would accept a sanction for that violation. However, it appears the Committee prefers a trial despite my acknowledgments, despite the resolution of the matter in court, despite Governor Sununu’s statements that ‘there was no request’ or ‘anything illegal,’ and despite the fact that I did not attempt to influence the AG’s investigation of my husband. I am disappointed that I am being subjected to this unnecessary process,” Hantz Marconi said.
Hantz Marconi was charged criminally for those same conversations in which prosecutors alleged she sought special favors from Sununu and Duprey even though they both told investigators there was nothing improper in the conversations.
Hantz Marconi pleaded no contest last October to a misdemeanor in a plea agreement, was found guilty, fined and returned to the bench before retiring. Geno Marconi pleaded guilty a few weeks later to knowingly providing confidential motor vehicle records pertaining to Neil Levesque, vice chairman of the Pease Development Authority to Bradley Cook, who was then-chairman of the Division of Ports and Harbors Advisory Council.
In a plea agreement, Geno Marconi was sentenced to 30 days in the House of Corrections with all suspended as long as he is on good behavior for one year, fined $2,000 and was required to resign from his position.
A spokesman for Attorney General John Formella declined comment on the JCC charges.
The hearing on Hantz Marconi’s JCC allegations will be before the Judicial Conduct Committee on Dec. 7-9, at 9:00 a.m. at One Granite Place, Concord.
The hearing notice was signed by Mark Zuckerman on Aug. 3. The list of the hearing panel members include the following:
Hearing Panel Members
John Mullen, JCC Chair
Stephen R. L’Heureux, JCC Vice Chair
Attorney Jack P. Crisp
Attorney Catherine E. Shanelaris
Judge Polly Hall
Judge Jennifer A. Lemire
Michael Symmonds
Sherry Bisson
Thomas J. Moses
Larry Gilpin
Kristin Bertrand