The Maine bar is suspending a New Hampshire judge from practicing law in the state after she was accused of attempting to interfere with a criminal investigation into her husband.
Anna Barbara Hantz Marconi serves as an associate justice on the New Hampshire Supreme Court and has been licensed to practice law in Maine since 1992, according to Maine’s Board of Overseers of the Bar.
Marconi’s credentials in both states have been suspended after she was indicted on seven charges in October. Those include one count of attempting to commit improper influence and one count of criminal solicitation of improper influence, both felonies, as well as five related misdemeanors, according to the Associated Press.
New Hampshire’s attorney general alleged that Marconi reached out to that state’s governor and tried to minimize an investigation into her husband, who directs the New Hampshire Division of Ports and Harbors.
Marconi allegedly told former Gov. Chris Sununu that the investigation was the result of “personal petty and/or political biases.” She allegedly told Sununu the investigation “needed to be wrapped up quickly because she was recused from importance cases pending.”
Marconi pleaded not guilty to the charges in November, according to New Hampshire Public Radio.
She was suspended from practicing law in Maine on Jan. 20, according to an order signed by Superior Justice Ann Murray.
An attorney for the board of overseers of the bar requested “reciprocal discipline” in November, after a similar suspension was ordered in New Hampshire.
Marconi did not object to being disciplined in Maine as long as the suspension “shall be temporary during the pendency of the suspension of her practice of Law in New Hampshire,” according to Murray’s order.
This story contains material from the Associated Press.
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