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Former Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane, free on bail while she appeals her perjury conviction, invoked her Fifth Amendment right not to testify this week in a court hearing in which an accused Pittsburgh killer is challenging wiretap evidence against him.

In a complicated pretrial legal fight, Price Montgomery, an alleged drug dealer charged with fatally shooting a witness, is seeking to exploit a feud between Kane and one of her top deputies that broke out in 2014, at the same time the Attorney Generals Office had tapped Montgomerys cellphone.

Kane went on a vacation to Haiti at that time, and because of the feud had refused to sign routine paperwork authorizing deputy Adrian King to make key decisions in her absence. Nonetheless, King approved the wiretap, using an autopen to add Kanes signature to the document; the recorded conversations allegedly implicate Montgomery.

Now, Montgomery and his codefendants want the wiretap evidence barred on grounds that the tap was approved without proper legal authority.

The hearing showed howKanes tumultuous tenure as attorney general continues to have a ripple effect, almost a year after she stepped down.

Kane, who has kept a low profile since her conviction, took the stand briefly Tuesday in federal court in Pittsburgh only to decline to answer questions, according to several courtroom observers. King had testified the day before, saying that Kane approved the wiretap in a call from the airport as she left for her trip. King provided cellphone records and his notes from the call to back up his account.

King was a key witness against Kane in her criminal case. The former attorney general took note of that in explaining why she took the Fifth.

I know how this works: I say one thing. Adrian King says another. I get charged with perjury, Kane told federal prosecutors a few days before the hearing, according to defense attorney Michael DeRiso, who represents one of Montgomerys codefendants. He said prosecutors had shared notes of Kanes remarks with them.

Kane could not be reached for comment; a call to her home this week went unanswered.

Kanes lawyer for the hearing, Thomas J. Farrell, refused to say whether he was her lawyer. Federal prosecutors also declined comment. U.S. District Judge Mark R., Hornak will rule on the suppression motion in the fall.

Montgomery, 36, is charged with the Aug. 22, 2014, killing of Tina Crawford, 34, also of Pittsburgh, who was shot 10 times at her home as she was leaving to talk with federal prosecutors. Her mother was wounded in the same attack.

Two months before the shootings, Montgomery had been arrested on drug-dealing charges after police seized 1,500 bricks of heroin, more than $100,000, and 16 handguns, shotguns, and rifles in a raid.

Though the wiretap was placed by the Attorney Generals Office, federal prosecutors are pursuing the case. DeRiso said that knocking out the wiretap evidence would undermine the drug charges, but was uncertain about its impact on the charge involving the killing of the witness.

In legal papers defending Kanes right to invoke her constitutional right against self-incrimination, Farrell noted that even innocent people may cite the Fifth Amendment so as not to provide any information to authorities.

He also noted that Kanes conflict with King was explored during the 2016 trial in Montgomery County that ended with her conviction on perjury and obstruction charges.

A jury found that she lied under oath in denying that she had unlawfully leaked confidential investigative material to a newspaper in a bid to embarrass a political enemy. King, now a lawyer in Philadelphia, was a key prosecution witness, testifying that he had warned Kane not to leak material. His relationship with Kane grew chilly after he provided that advice.

Kane was sentenced to serve 10 to 23 months in jail. She has appealed her conviction to Superior Court.

Published: June 23, 2017 5:38 PM EDT

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Former AG Kane takes Fifth in wiretap case - Philly.com - Philly.com