A new legal front opened for Attorney General Kathleen Kane on Friday after a judge said she must explain whether her firing of a prosecutor violated his order not to retaliate against witnesses in an investigation into allegations her office leaked secret grand jury information.
Friday's order by Montgomery County Judge William Carpenter, who supervised the grand jury investigation, came two days after Kane's office fired a prosecutor, James Barker, who had testified before the panel.
Lanny Davis, an outside lawyer for Kane, said in a statement Friday that all of Kane's personnel decisions were appropriate management decisions to promote reform and efficiency in the office. He did not refer to Barker by name, and he did not say whether the attorney general's office would challenge the judge's order.
The grand jury recommended in December that Kane be charged with perjury, obstruction, false swearing and official oppression stemming from allegations that her office gave secret investigative material to a newspaper last year. Its written report has not been disclosed publicly and Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman is looking into its findings.
Barker has confirmed that he testified before the grand jury, but has declined to discuss his testimony. Kane has said she is not guilty of leaking secret information.
During last year's investigation, Carpenter issued a protective order to shield grand jury witnesses from "obstruction, intimidation or retaliation" by anyone, including employees of the attorney general's office. Carpenter made the Sept. 17 protective order public for the first time Friday.
Carpenter set an April 27 hearing for Kane and Thomas Carluccio, the special prosecutor in the grand jury investigation, to appear before him and two other judges. The panel will decide whether the protective order was violated. If they decide it was, a hearing is held to determine whether to impose a contempt of court punishment, Friday's order said.
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A contempt conviction can result in jail time, but not likely more than six months, and can also could trigger a disciplinary process that could endanger a lawyer's law license. In Kane's circumstances, the loss of her license would jeopardize her hold on the office.
Barker was abruptly fired Wednesday after six years at the attorney general's office, where he was in charge of the office's criminal appeals cases and grand juries. Barker said he had had no disciplinary issues during his time in the office and was given no reason for his firing.
The attorney general's office told reporters Thursday that Barker's firing came amid a restructuring of his unit, and cited his "supervisory accountability" amid news reports on grand jury proceedings that were supposed to have been kept secret. The office did not refer to any particular news reports.
Barker said he should have been covered by Carpenter's protective order.
