Supreme Court Justice Hantz Marconi Claims AG's 'Conflicts' Prejudiced Her Case

By Nancy West, InDepth NH

CONCORD, NH — Indicted state Supreme Court Justice Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi's latest motion to disqualify Attorney General John Formella from her case and dismiss all charges against her, claims new evidence shows he had conflicts that prejudiced her from the beginning.

"The totality of the discovery provided by the State since Dec. 18, 2024, reveals new
conflicts of interest and direct evidence of prejudice to Justice Hantz Marconi," her attorney Richard Guerriero wrote in a motion filed late last week.

Guerriero said the full Attorney General's Office must also be disqualified from prosecuting Hantz Marconi, who remains on paid leave from the court.

Formella's spokesman Mike Garrity said Monday: “We will respond to this latest defense motion by filing an objection in court.”

At her trial scheduled for Sept. 2 in Merrimack County Superior Court, Formella, former Gov. Chris Sununu, state Supreme Court Chief Justice Gordon MacDonald and Steve Duprey, chairman of the Pease Development Authority, will likely all be called to testify, according to court records.

"The discovery shows that Attorney General Formella will be a necessary witness at trial because he was the first person to interview Governor Sununu and legal counsel (Rudy) Ogden about the Hantz Marconi meeting which is at the heart of this case. Formella made himself a trial witness when he conducted those interviews alone with no investigator as a witness, despite standard practices in his office and ABA guidance to the contrary.

"Moreover, the discovery shows that Formella’s conflict of interest has resulted in prejudice that is evident throughout the investigation and prosecution of this case," Guerriero wrote.

Hantz Marconi, 69, of Stratham, was indicted for allegedly trying to interfere with the state's criminal investigation of her husband, state Ports and Harbors Director Geno Marconi, by meeting with then-Gov. Chris Sununu in June of 2024 and speaking with Pease Development Authority Chairperson Steve Duprey in April of 2024 about the investigation.

She told Sununu the investigation into her husband was “the result of personal, petty and or political biases, that there was no merit to allegations against or subsequent investigation into Geno Marconi,” according to court records. She also told Sununu the investigation needed to wrap up quickly because it caused her to be recused from hearing important cases at the state Supreme Court.

Hantz Marconi also said Chief Justice MacDonald approved of her meeting with Sununu beforehand, which MacDonald denied when he was interviewed by investigators.

MacDonald also provided a different account of what he was told the conversation between Hantz Marconi and Sununu included than Formella's notes.

"For example, Formella’s notes of Sununu’s account of the Hantz Marconi conversation
differ from the account Chief Justice MacDonald claims to have heard from Sununu. Chief
Justice MacDonald said, in his August 2, 2024, interview with investigators, that Governor
Sununu told him that Justice Hantz Marconi made three points, one of which was to 'complain
about the Attorney General' and to call Formella 'weak' and 'very political.'

"Yet, during the investigators’ follow-up interviews with Sununu and Ogden, both contradicted
MacDonald. Sununu and Ogden specifically denied ever hearing Justice Hantz Marconi say
anything about Formella being 'weak' or 'political' or mentioning Formella at all.

"Surely, it would have gotten Formella’s attention if Sununu or Ogden had reported that Hantz Marconi made those criticisms of Formella. Yet, Formella’s own notes of his interviews with Sununu and Ogden do not reflect such comments. Thus, Formella’s testimony at trial would support Sununu’s and Ogden’s statements and contradict MacDonald’s," Guerriero wrote.

Geno Marconi, 73, 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.

Geno Marconi's lawyer Richard Samdperil has filed motions seeking dismissal of the charges against Marconi.

"(N)one of the charges allege, and none of the discovery provided by the State suggests, that Mr. Marconi ever directly accessed or obtained internal records from the New Hampshire Department of Safety, Division of Motor Vehicles.

"Rather, the discovery material suggests that N.L. (Neil Levesque) or someone acting on his behalf, voluntarily submitted copies of his boat and automobile registrations to the Division of Ports and Harbors in support of either a pier use permit or a boat mooring application," Samdperil wrote.

"Discovery material suggests that N.L. never relinquished his actual certificates of registration to the DPH. The DPH merely maintained in its records a copy of the application or applications, which included copies of the boat and automobile registrations that N.L. voluntarily provided to the DPH," the motion states.

”Because the documents allegedly provided to B.C. were initially received from N.L. and were not motor vehicle records in the possession of the Department of Safety, they were neither confidential nor protected records under the New Hampshire Driver Privacy Act. Thus, even if this information was 'provided' to another person, it did not violate the Driver Privacy Act or any other law, and, as a matter of law, these charges should be dismissed," Samdperil wrote.

Samdperil also filed a motion seeking the charges related to Geno Marconi's phone and deleting phone messages be dismissed.

"That language alone is insufficient to set forth the crime of Falsifying Physical Evidence because the indictment fails to allege that the 'voicemail' was physical evidence of any crime. The indictment of Obstructing Government Administration similarly fails to allege how deleting voicemails is 'unlawful conduct,' as the statute requires," Samdperil wrote.

Cook, who had spoken out publicly in favor of Geno Marconi, was later indicted for allegedly lying to the grand jury investigating Marconi. Juror selection in Cook's trial is scheduled for Jan. 5, 2026.

What AG Formella Knows

The new evidence turned over to the defense by the Attorney General's Office, required in preparation for trial, known as discovery, says Formella is also the only person who knows how the Hantz Marconi criminal investigation started.

According to a 2021 memorandum Formella issued at Sununu's request, the Attorney General can only launch investigations into state officials if there is a signed written request, and there was none in this case, Guerriero wrote.

"Despite the State’s allegations, both Sununu and Duprey deny any impropriety in the conversations," Guerriero wrote.

Hantz Marconi is charged with Attempt to Commit Improper Influence, Criminal Solicitation (Improper Influence), Official Oppression, Criminal Solicitation (Official Oppression), Obstructing Government Administration, and two counts of Criminal Solicitation (Misuse of Position) all based on her conversations with Sununu and Duprey.

Guerriero wrote: "The reliability of the investigation in this case is subject to serious question."
First, the investigation moved forward despite statements from Sununu, Ogden, and Duprey that Hantz Marconi did nothing illegal, Guerriero wrote.

Then after months of discovery, "it is apparent that the Attorney General’s Office violated its own policies in this investigation."

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