Kane Asks Court to Quash Grand Jury

Attorney General Kathleen Kane has made her case why the Pennsylvania Supreme Court should quash a grand jury that has recommended she face charges related leaking secret case information to the media.

“Kane’s defense attorneys claimed in legal filings Wednesday that Montgomery County Judge William Carpenter had no legal authority to appoint a special prosecutor to lead a grand jury media leak probe,” the Morning Call reports. “Kane’s attorneys say Carpenter could not appoint a special prosecutor with subpoena powers because the state’s special prosecutor law expired in 2003. Such a unilateral appointment would have been illegal under the old law, which said a randomly selected three-judge panel could vote to appoint a special prosecutor, not an individual judge, the legal brief states.”

See the legal brief, posted by PennLive.com, below.

Carpenter has argued that precedent — other judges have made similar appointments — allowed his action. The special prosecutor has said his appointment was legal because Kane’s office could not investigate itself.

The justices meet March 11 in Philadelphia to hear oral arguments in the case. The grand jury’s recommendations are on hold until the court rules on Kane’s request.