Lawyers for attorney general Kathleen Kane filed papers Thursday with the state Supreme Court seeking to cancel out the grand jury presentment that recommended criminal charges be filed against her Kane’s attorney’s argued the entire grand jury was not properly impanelled.
The Montgomery County-based grand jury recommended charges of perjury and obstruction against Kane in January based on the alleged leak from her office of information from a 2009 grand jury probe to local media. But Kane’s lawyers now argue that Montgomery County Judge William Carpenter did not have the legal authority to appoint special prosecutor Thomas Carluccio to investigate her office, in part because it “violated the separation of powers inherent in the Pennsylvania constitution,” according to court papers filed Feb. 4. Kane has previously declared that the investigation against her is politically motivated and that she would not step down even if the presentment led to her indictment. Kane acknowledged releasing to the Daily News a 2014 memo on the 2009 investigation into the finances of the Philadelphia branch of the NAACP. However she denied releasing a document from 2009 that reportedly contained confidential information and which was also leaked to the Daily News. Kane’s attorney Lanny Davis previously declared that the grand jury did not accuse Kane of any leak, as it did not recommend a charge of “contempt,” which is associated with violations of the Grand Jury Secrecy Act.
Kane seeking to kill potential perjury charges
Charles Mostoller
