She blindly sought revenge, at one point even emailing colleagues, “This is War”.
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Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele noted, though, that Kane had chosen the men as confidants.
The 50-year-old Kane had never before held office.
Kane’s political consultant, testifying with a grant of immunity, changed his grand jury testimony last week to tell jurors that he had “conspired” with Kane to leak the grand jury material and then frame her chief deputy for the crime.
Numerous prosecution’s witnesses faced intense cross-examinations by Shargel and co-defense lawyers Seth C. Farber, Ross M. Kramer, Douglas Rosenblum and Amil Minora. After the verdict was read Judge Wendy Demchick-Alloy threatened to jail Kane if she took any action against those who testified against her.
There was physical evidence as well, he said, including texts messages, emails and phone calls between Kane and Morrow.
A law school boyfriend-turned-top aide, Adrian King, testified that he had agreed to pass a manila envelope from Kane’s office in Harrisburg to Morrow’s home in Philadelphia.
“We have been denied the opportunity to mount a full defense”, defense lawyer Gerald Shargel said.
Prosecutors say Kane orchestrated a cover-up of the leak and lied to a grand jury about it.
The trial judge, though, barred her lawyers from mentioning the email scandal as a defense.
Kane does not have to resign immediately, and could potentially remain in office until a new attorney general is elected in November and sworn in January 17.
She will stay on as the top lawyer for the state unless she resigns or until she is formally sentenced, or her term runs out.
She was Pennsylvania’s first female attorney general and a rare Democrat in the job.
On Monday, the hammer came down, and Kane was found guilty on nine criminal charges. That includes perjury, obstructing administration of law, official oppression, false swearing and conspiracy.
Governor Tom Wolf called on Kane to resign immediately.
Attorney General Kathleen Kane showed little emotion as jurors announced their verdict late Monday. Voters will select a new attorney general in the November election. Kane was accused of subsequently lying about the leak to a grand jury.
The defense says they believe their arguments were “compromised”.
As the New York Times notes, her two felony perjury convictions could each land her seven years in prison. However, officials in Pennsylvania do not have to resign over misconduct until they are sentenced.
She won in a landslide, becoming the first Democrat and woman ever elected to the office, and earned early praise from Democrats for refusing to defend a legal challenge to the state’s law banning recognition of same-sex marriage.
An aide for Kane testified during the trial that she became “hell-bent on getting back at Frank Fina”, and described her behaviour as “unhinged”.
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Pennsylvania’s attorney general is facing growing pressure to resign after her conviction on charges she abused her office’s power to smear a rival and tried to cover it up.
