Pennsylvania High Court Puts Hold on Kathleen Kane Leak Case
By Brad Segall
NORRISTOWN, Pa. (CBS) -- Any possible charges against Pennsylvania attorney general Kathleen Kane related to potential leaks to a grand jury are on hold until the Pennsylvania Supreme Court weighs in on her challenge to the appointment of the special prosecutor who built the case against her.
The high court has scheduled a hearing for March, in Philadelphia, after Kane questioned the legality of special prosecutor Tom Carluccio's appointment. That means Montgomery County district attorney Risa Ferman can't bring criminal charges against Kane until the court rules.
The grand jury recommended perjury and other charges. Ferman wouldn't say whether she would go along with those recommendations.
But Kane attorney Lanny Davis couldn't be more clear in his opinion:
"The grand jury is wrong," he tells KYW Newsradio. "It's got it's facts all messed up, so we are confident the grand jury is fact-free. The conclusion that she illegally leaked (confidential grand jury information) has no factual basis."
Lawyers for Kane claim that Carluccio lacked legal standing to lead a grand jury investigation into a leak by Kane's office to a newspaper -- a leak that apparently was designed to embarrass her political foes.
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This story corrects an earlier audio version of the story that ran on KYW Newsradio that stated it was Montgomery County district attorney Risa Ferman who released the grand jury report and suggested that Mrs. Ferman wanted to charge Pennsylvania attorney general Kathleen Kane with perjury and other offenses.