PHILADELPHIA _ A week before Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane is set to face criminal trial, her lawyers filed an emergency petition with the state Supreme Court on Monday, asking that the charges against her be dismissed.
The so-called King's Bench motion marked a last-minute attempt to avoid or delay trial for Kane. Jury selection in her case is scheduled to begin Monday in Norristown.
King's Bench actions, named for the high court in English common law, may be filed only in matters of immediate public importance. They are unusual _ and rarely granted.
Kane is charged with perjury, obstruction, official oppression and other crimes. Prosecutors say she illegally leaked secret grand jury information in an attempt to embarrass a political foe, and later lied about it under oath.
She has pleaded not guilty.
Kane's request to the high court reiterated arguments her lawyers had previously made _ unsuccessfully _ in pretrial motions and proceedings.
In a 30-page filing Monday seeking dismissal of the charges against her, Kane's lawyers contended that evidence from the grand jury that investigated her should be thrown out because it was "unlawful and unconstitutional." They argued that special prosecutor Thomas Carluccio, appointed to work with the grand jury, had no legal authority to issue subpoenas and act as a prosecutor.
"The issue is one of immediate, practical concern, which threatens the constitutional rights of the commonwealth's chief law enforcement officer," wrote Douglas K. Rosenblum, one of Kane's lawyers.
Kane has already made this argument to the Supreme Court. The court ruled last year, after the grand jury recommended charges against Kane, that a judge's appointment of a special prosecutor was appropriate, even though no state law explicitly authorized it.
After the grand jury investigation, the case was referred the to Montgomery County district attorney's office, which charged Kane last August.
Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele could not be reached for comment Monday evening.
In response to other arguments from Kane's lawyer, prosecutors have said they conducted their own investigation after they received the grand jury materials, along with its recommendation, last year.
Kane, a Democrat, is in the final year of her first term as attorney general. The state Supreme Court suspended her license to practice law after she was criminally charged, and she has chosen not to seek at second term.
It was not clear Monday when the Supreme Court would rule on the matter. If the justices do not delay the case, jury selection is set to begin Monday in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court before Judge Wendy Demchick-Alloy.
