Kane case still big question for Ferman

There's little doubt where Risa Vetri Ferman will be in January: The longtime Montgomery County district attorney is a strong candidate to win a seat on the County Court bench.

But as the clock ticks down on her career as a local prosecutor, the larger question is if, or when, she will charge the state's top prosecutor with a crime.

The same week that Ferman announced her run for the bench, she was handed a grand jury recommendation to charge Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane in the alleged leaking of secret information to a newspaper, then trying to cover it up. Kane, a Democrat, has denied any wrongdoing and called the investigation a partisan attack ordered by a Republican judge.

The grand jury that heard evidence against Kane - as well as the attorney general's testimony - was seated in Montgomery County. So it falls to Ferman to decide whether to prosecute the perjury and obstruction charges recommended by the panel.

On a case that will be so closely scrutinized, experts say, Ferman has no room for error.

"This is going to be one of the most observed, evaluated, and commented-on decisions by a county D.A. in modern history," political pollster G. Terry Madonna said.

For the integrity of the case, and to minimize the impact on her own campaign, Ferman should decide well before the fall election season, said Randall M. Miller, a political science professor at St. Joseph's University.

"She needs to make that decision carefully, but also as soon as possible," said Miller, who monitors area politics. "Especially good would be to do it in the doldrums, the summer, when no one is paying attention to these things anyway."

Ferman, 50, of Abington, has given no deadline and said this month that she would not comment until she decides.

In the meantime, she is forging ahead with the advocacy and charity work that have been cornerstones of her tenure. Last week, she attended a fund-raiser organized by her brother, the chef Marc Vetri, and was in Harrisburg supporting a bill to expand expungement opportunities for nonviolent offenders.

Ferman has spent her entire career with the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office - 22 years - and earned a reputation as a tough, effective prosecutor. She has remained popular despite missteps on a few high-profile cases.

Political experts said the bench was the next logical step for Ferman, and some are speculating that she will seek a leadership role or eventually run for the state Supreme Court.

Although such speculation has followed her entire career, Ferman said she has never thought of herself as a political climber.

"You have to be careful not to buy the spin that other people put on you," she said this year. "I know who I am. I know how I work, my strengths and weaknesses."

In the May 19 primary, she was the No. 1 vote-getter on the Republican ballot for a county judgeship and earned 30 percent more votes than her nearest competitor. But she fell 4,200 votes shy of winning both parties' nominations, an outcome that would have all but sealed her victory.

Heading into November, she is still far and away the front-runner, with the most money and name recognition among six candidates.

But going up as a Republican in a county where momentum and registration are on the Democrats' side, she will need bipartisan support.

"She's going to win, but she's going to have to campaign," said Aaron Cohen, a Republican strategist.

Nonpartisan political watchers agreed.

Within her own party, sources say, some still harbor ill feelings over her decision to charge the county's former GOP chairman, Robert Kerns, with sexual assault, and for pursuing a 2011 perjury case against another top Republican, County Commissioner James R. Matthews.

Miller said those cases - Kerns eventually pleaded no contest to indecent assault - showed Ferman to be an independent prosecutor, a reputation that could bolster her credibility when she decides about Kane.

"Despite all the intra-party shenanigans, she was unafraid, and I think people respect her for that," he said.

Ferman is bound to see some political fallout no matter what she decides on Kane, but Madonna said the magnitude of the case might serve as a buffer.

"It's such a huge decision, such a historic decision, that I don't think you can look at it purely politically," he said.

Ferman said that politics - including her own race for the bench - still take a backseat to her work as district attorney.

"I'm running a big office. We have significant cases every day," she said. "I'm certainly hopeful that by doing the work of this office and doing it well, I will earn the support of people in November."

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Age: 50

Residence: Abington

Family: Husband Michael, executive at a Philadelphia paper-recycling firm; children ages 20, 19, and 16

Education: Abington High School, University of Pennsylvania, Widener University School of Law

Career: 1993-2002, a Montgomery County prosecutor

2002-08, first assistant district attorney

2008-15, district attorney

Record: Guilty pleas or verdicts in 98 percent of cases during her tenure as district attorney

Charities: Co-founder of Mission Kids, Montgomery County Child Advocacy Project; board member of her family's Vetri Foundation

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