Reese was charged with contempt, accused of secretly gathering confidential grand jury information and passing it to Kane.
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Officials running the 2014 probe had to summon Kane staffers to testify without tipping off the boss or other potential targets.
Prosecutors contend Reese, who also was Kane’s driver when she was on state business, was considered a personal confidant of Kane.
A lawyer for Patrick Reese has said his client wasn’t aware of a court order protecting the emails, although witnesses said Monday it was widely discussed in the office, at least among Kane’s top staff.
Carpenter is expected to rule when the two-day hearing ends Tuesday. Specifically, Mr. Reese was charged with searching a heavily access-restricted and specialized email archiving system to find out what the grand jury was doing.
Defense lawyer William Fetterhoff declined comment on the contempt hearing.
Patrick Reese faces up to six months in jail on the conviction, which he can appeal.
The information that Reese gleaned included witness names and emails between Carpenter, special prosecutor Thomas Carluccio and others.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane speaks during a news conference in August at the state Capitol in Harrisburg.
Prosecutors say Reese took an active role in what a prosecutor called an orchestrated cover-up of Kathleen Kane’s alleged crimes. In the charging documents against him, witnesses told prosecutors that Reese was considered the “go between” with Kane.
Fetterhoff downplayed testimony about the close relationship between Reese and Kane, saying, “It’s an invitation to your honor to conclude that whatever she knew then (Reese) knew”.
The order prohibited the attorney general’s office from learning and anyone from telling the office anything about the grand jury’s work.
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The email snooping occurred while the attorney general a year ago was being investigated for allegedly leaking evidence from a 2009 grand jury case to the press.
