Some of the most influential people in New Hampshire politics, both past and present, could testify later this year in a Concord courtroom. These include former Governor Chris Sununu, Attorney General John Formella, Supreme Court Chief Justice Gordon MacDonald, and three other current justices.
That is, unless a judge agrees to their plea to prevent them from taking part in the well-known trial of Justice Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi of the New Hampshire Supreme Court. Accusations that Hantz Marconia attempted to unlawfully persuade Sununu to stop a criminal probe into her husband, Geno Marconi, the state’s longstanding ports director, are at the center of the trial.
A superior court judge decided Thursday to postpone the trial’s September start date while the defense and prosecution’s attorneys continue to clash over a number of topics, including who might be asked to testify.
A network of state authorities are involved in the investigation, which has significant stakes: if proven guilty, Hantz Marconi faces jail time, penalties, and losing her judicial seat. Even several important witnesses have stated that they do not believe Hantz Marconi breached any legal limits, so Formella and his senior deputies will be closely watched as they attempt to secure a conviction.
Since last summer, Hantz Marconi, Sununu’s nominee for her seat on the state’s highest court, has been on paid administrative leave. Her spouse, who is also on paid vacation from his job, is accused of sharing personal information about a political adversary in retribution, according to separate criminal allegations.
The two Marconis entered not guilty pleas.
Prosecutors plan to call on Sununu to testify, along with his former attorney, Rudy Ogden, who has since been appointed a state Superior Court judge, after Hantz Marconi is suspected of attempting to curry favor with Sununu on behalf of her husband during a meeting last summer in his office.
According to transcripts of his interview, Sununut told investigators that he thought the talk with Hantz Marconi was “quasi-inappropriate” and awkward, but he did not think she desired favorable treatment for her husband.
Prosecutors also said they planned to invite MacDonald to appear in a proposed witness list that was made public last week. Last August, MacDonald, who was selected by Sununu and has been the top justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court since 2021, voluntarily met with prosecutors looking into Hantz Marconi. He revealed the details of a phone conversation he had with Sununu at that meeting, which took place soon after the governor’s office meeting with Hantz Marconi.
According to Hantz Marconi’s court documents, she spoke with MacDonald first before seeing Sununu, and he gave her permission to approach the governor. Prosecutors were then informed by MacDonald that no such conversation occurred.
Additionally, prosecutors want to summon Steve Duprey, the president of the Pease Development Authority’s board, and Paul Brean, the executive director of the organization, as witnesses. Geno Marconi is under the PDA’s supervision as ports director. Additionally, Hantz Marconi is charged with trying to sway Duprey’s decision about her husband’s probe.
(Duprey has no say in how the station covers news, but he is a member of the NHPR Board of Directors.)
The list of persons and possible witnesses will probably continue to expand: Formella, the state’s top prosecutor, and the three other justices on the high court—James Bassett, Melissa Countway, and Patrick Donovan—have all been subpoenaed by Hantz Marconi’s attorneys, who have not yet submitted a witness list. These individuals may be compelled to testify.
Formella might be compelled to testify regarding the specifics of a phone conversation he had with Sununu in which the governor revealed his meeting with Hantz Marconi, which prompted Formella to look into her behavior.
Previously serving as Sununu’s attorney, Formella presented what Hantz Marconi’s attorneys claim was a conflict of interest in her case. They asked a judge to either drop the charges or require Formella and the entire New Hampshire Department of Justice staff to disqualify themselves from the case in a pending legal action.
The court has been requested by the Department of Justice to dismiss any attempts to compel Formella to testify. In the meantime, the state’s chief legal counsel recently submitted a motion requesting that the judge presiding over Hantz Marconi’s case either prohibit MacDonald from testifying or severely restrict the questions that can be asked of him and the other three sitting justices.
In a recent move, the attorney for the judicial branch stated that some rules restrict judges’ capacity to leave the bench and testify as witnesses for either side in a lawsuit.
There are numerous motions and countermotions in the case’s court file, many of which are still pending before Judge Martin Honigberg.
Hantz Marconi’s legal team recently asked for a 60-day postponement of the jury selection process, which was supposed to start on September 2. They cited a number of ongoing disagreements between the defense and prosecutors, including who might be required to testify during the trial.
Richard Guerriero, Hantz Marconi’s attorney, stated that there are just too many changing pieces and unsolved questions for this case to be handled fairly on September 2, 2025. Important and, in many ways, unprecedented issues have been brought up and argued by the parties.
