Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi can now resume her duties on the New Hampshire Supreme Court, two days after her no-contest plea deal ended the criminal case against her, instigated by Attorney General John Formella.
Hantz Marconi cleared the final hurdle Thursday when the Supreme Court issued an order reinstating her law license. The court agreed with the Attorney Discipline Office that since Hantz Marconi is not guilty of a “serious crime,” there is no reason to withhold her license.
“We conclude that criminal solicitation (misuse of position) is not a ‘serious crime’ because it does not include, as a necessary element, interference with the administration of justice, false swearing, misrepresentation, fraud, deceit, bribery, extortion, misappropriation, or theft. Accordingly, we lift the respondent’s interim suspension and reinstate her to the practice of law, effective immediately,” the court ruled.
Under the state’s attorney discipline rules, Hantz Marconi’s license would have been in jeopardy if she were convicted of a serious crime. But the deal the Attorney General’s Office signed off on required a prosecutor to state in court that her no-contest plea to a Class B misdemeanor did not count as a conviction for a “serious crime.”
Confronted on Wednesday with news that the woman he prosecuted would likely be back on the bench 48 hours later, Formella said, “It’s not a decision we were aware would happen.”
Hantz Marconi agreed to an interim suspension last year when she was first indicted on two felonies and five Class A misdemeanors for allegedly trying to get Gov. Chris Sununu and Pease Development Authority Chair Steve Duprey to interfere with or stop the criminal investigation into her husband, former Ports Director Geno Marconi. At the time, she was also placed on administrative leave from her job on the court.
The plea deal she reached this week required prosecutors to dismiss all seven original indictments and bring one new misdemeanor count alleging she tried to get Sununu to improperly review her husband’s investigation during a June 6, 2024, conversation. She reportedly made an appointment to speak with Sununu about what she viewed as the political nature of the case against her husband and the fact that it was preventing her from doing her job. Hantz Marconi had been recusing herself from cases involving the Department of Justice for several months while her husband was under investigation.
Hantz Marconi denied wrongdoing during her no-contest plea hearing but acknowledged prosecutors could likely prove their case at trial. Before meeting with Sununu, Hantz Marconi said Chief Justice Gordon MacDonald told her she had every right to discuss her situation with the governor.
Sununu reportedly told Formella he saw nothing improper about the conversation. But the attorney general launched his own investigation into the judge, asking witnesses whether Hantz Marconi had told Sununu she thought he was “weak” and “very political,” according to court records.
Moments after her plea on Tuesday, the Supreme Court issued a ruling allowing her to return to work once her law license is reinstated. On Wednesday, the Attorney Discipline Office agreed with her attorney, Richard Guerriero, that the license should be reinstated. Thursday’s order from the court was the final hurdle.
Hantz Marconi still faces possible sanctions or a reprimand from either the Attorney Discipline Office or the Judicial Conduct Committee. But thanks to the plea deal from Formella’s office, Hantz Marconi has regained both her law license and her seat on the bench.
Thursday’s order was issued by five substitute judges, all from the Superior Court, who were assigned to act in place of the regular Supreme Court justices for matters related to Hantz Marconi. That arrangement was necessitated last year when the four other Supreme Court justices recused themselves from her case. Hantz Marconi had been fighting for the right to call her Supreme Court colleagues as witnesses in the trial that had been scheduled to start Nov. 4.
It is not clear whether Hantz Marconi will continue to recuse herself from cases involving the Department of Justice for the remainder of her term. She is required to retire in February when she turns 70.
