Hantz Marconi May Seek Pretrial Review By NH Supreme Court, Whose Justices Are Witnesses

By Nancy West, InDepth NH

In seeking a 60-day continuance for her trial, state Supreme Court Justice Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi's lawyer argued "there are too many moving parts," including likely pre-trial appeals to the state Supreme Court on a number of yet undecided motions for her to get a fair trial.

With only a month before trial, Hantz Marconi's lawyer Richard Guerriero said in a new motion that Judge Martin Honigberg's orders on 10 still pending motions could hinder her chances of getting a fair trial without a continuance.

"...(T)he defense respectfully suggests that its Renewed Motion to Disqualify and its motions to dismiss on First Amendment grounds involve issues that may materially advance the termination of the litigation, are necessary to protect Justice Hantz Marconi from substantial and irreparable injury, and present the opportunity to decide issues of general importance in the administration of justice," Guerriero wrote.

If Honigberg denies the defense's renewed motion to disqualify or other motions, the defense may seek pretrial review by the New Hampshire Supreme Court, Guerriero said, which will be time consuming. Since the remaining Supreme Court justices are witnesses in the case, they will likely recuse themselves and a new panel will have to be appointed.

"When those motions are decided, the orders will likely be substantial and will require significant time to review. Yet, trial is now one month away," Guerriero wrote in a motion Aug. 1.

"If the Court also holds that the indictments must be dismissed, then the new, unconflicted prosecutor will have to reconsider whether to bring charges and whether to go back to a grand jury," he said.

Hantz Marconi, 69, of Stratham, is accused of trying to interfere with a criminal investigation into her husband state Ports Director Geno Marconi, 73, when she spoke with then-Gov. Chris Sununu in June of 2024 and Pease Development Authority Chairman Stephen Duprey in April of 2024.

The latest motion was filed the day after the state's witness list and other motions were made public revealing that Sununu, Duprey and the remaining four Supreme Court Justices are witnesses in the case, including Chief Justice Gordon MacDonald. Hantz Marconi is on paid leave as is her husband, state Ports Director Geno Marconi.

"Because of the unique circumstances of this case and the position of the accused, the sitting members of the New Hampshire Supreme Court would be expected to recuse themselves, as they have already done in other related matters, such that substitute justices would need to be appointed...," Guerriero wrote.

The Attorney General’s Office has filed a motion to quash the defense subpoena for Attorney General John Formella to testify.

Assistant Attorney General Joe Fincham argued Formella’s testimony is not necessary, as it would not be relevant, material, and unobtainable elsewhere.

"Here again, however, the defense is constrained in its response since it does not yet know which, if any, charges will proceed to trial," Guerriero said.

Even if the motions were decided immediately, the defense would have to review the orders and determine what they mean as far as the trial goes, Guerriero said.

He also cited a motion filed by an attorney for the subpoenaed justices seeking to limit or bar their
testimony.

"The legal issues raised in that motion are unprecedented in New Hampshire and are by no means routine or simple. Even if the issues are adequately briefed and decided in the next few weeks, here again the defense will not have enough time to evaluate the rulings, seek reconsideration if necessary, seek pretrial review by the Supreme Court if necessary, and still be adequately prepared for trial," Guerriero said.

"There are simply 'too many moving parts' and too many unresolved issues for this case to be fairly tried on September 2, 2025," he said.

If Honigberg were to grant all or some of the eight pending motions to dismiss, some of the seven pending charges against Hantz Marconi may be eliminated and both parties’ trial strategies would shift accordingly, Guerriero wrote.

Also on the prosecution’s witness list is Superior Court Judge Rudolph W. Ogden, III, who was Sununu’s legal counsel when he met with Hantz Marconi last summer.

The list also includes Stephen P. Johnson, Thomas A. Defosses, and Robert J. Sullivan, all of the state Department of Justice, Hawley L. Rae of State Police, Paul Brean, Executive Director-Pease Development Authority, Madison E. Trites of the New Hampshire Insurance Department, and Margaret F. Lamson, who formerly served on the PDA board.

Erin Creegan, the attorney for the New Hampshire Judicial Branch, has filed a motion to clarify the subpoenas to the judges asking Honigberg to ask the parties to submit information or argument on any testimony they will be seeking from the judges.

“Upon hearing that information or argument, make a determination as to whether and about what any judicial officer may testify as a matter of law, or whether the subpoenas must be quashed as a matter of law,” Creegan wrote.

On July 25, Assistant Attorney General Fincham filed a motion seeking to limit what Sununu, Ogden, Duprey and MacDonald can testify about.

During the pretrial litigation, Hantz Marconi has relied on the opinions regarding whether she acted with the requisite mens rea or state of mind during the events in question, legal opinions, and speculations from them, Fincham wrote.

Guerriero said, "Finally, it bears noting that this is an unprecedented criminal prosecution of a sitting
justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court across seven indictments for alleged behavior that
even the percipient witnesses ( Sununu and Duprey) did not consider criminal."

"It would be an understatement to acknowledge that this case has raised a host of
novel constitutional questions requiring extensive briefing and argument. Many of the specific
issues have never been addressed by courts in this state. Simply put, it is in the 'best interest of
justice' for this Court to grant a continuance," Guerriero said.

Geno Marconi, of Stratham, was indicted for allegedly falsifying physical evidence by deleting a voicemail/and or voicemails from a phone on April 22, 2024. He was also indicted for allegedly retaliating against PDA Board Vice Chairman Neil Levesque, who is also the director of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College, by providing confidential motor vehicle records pertaining to Levesque to Bradley Cook, in violation of the Driver Privacy Act.

Geno Marconi’s trial is scheduled for Nov. 2. Bradley Cook was indicted for allegedly lying to the grand jury investigating Marconi. Juror selection in Cook’s trial is scheduled for Jan. 5, 2026.

A hearing for Hantz Marconi's case is scheduled for Friday in Merrimack County Superior Court in Concord.

All of the motions filed in Hantz Marconi's case can be found here: https://www.courts.nh.gov/media/requested-cases/criminal/state-nh-v-anna-barbara-hantz-marconi

This article first appeared on InDepthNH.org and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.