NORRISTOWN, Pa. (CN) — The first woman - and Democrat - ever elected Pennsylvania attorney general will be tried beginning Monday on charges of perjury, obstruction and official oppression.
In anticipation of the trial at the Montgomery County courthouse, Attorney General Kathleen Kane filed last minute applications for Extraordinary Relief and Kings Bench.
King's Bench power invokes the jurisdiction of an individual state's highest court over its inferior courts.
In essence then, Kane is asking to move the case to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court which could potentially vacate the judgments of the county court. On Friday afternoon, the state Supreme Court refused to intervene.
These charges, nicknamed "Porngate," reference all leaked materials that implicate judges and prosecutors involved in the Jerry Sandusky sex crime investigations.
Kane claims she was targeted for exposing a corrupt "good old boys" network where the same judges and prosecutors who were supposed to be battling the sexual abuse of women and children were allegedly passing around images on state government computers.
"I told you I would fight corruption, and I'm fighting corruption, regardless of the personal cost to me," Kane said at a news conference.
Kane remains in office, despite the suspension of her law license by the state Supreme Court and calls for her resignation from Gov. Tom Wolf, amid charges that she lied under oath about having leaked documents to embarrass political rivals.
However, she has announced that she will not seek reelection.
Kane's trial is set to begin at 9:00 a.m. She is represented by Gerald Shargel of Winston & Strawn LLP in Manhattan.
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