The Latest: Figure in Cosby case to assume job of top cop

The Latest: Figure in Cosby case to assume job of top cop


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HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The Latest on Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane (all times local):

5 p.m.

The top deputy to Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane will assume her duties now that she's resigning following her perjury conviction in a grand jury leak case.

Bruce L. Castor Jr. says he'll take the oath privately Wednesday. By law, the first deputy attorney general becomes acting attorney general should the office become vacant.

Kane, a Democrat, announced her resignation a day after jurors found her guilty of abusing her power and lying to cover it up.

Castor is a Republican former Montgomery County district attorney who ran unsuccessfully for attorney general in 2004.

Kane hired him in March.

Castor also has been a central figure in the sexual assault case against Bill Cosby.

Castor has said he had promised not to charge Cosby a decade ago when he investigated a former Temple University employee's claim the entertainer had molested her at his home.

But in February, a judge in the Cosby case rejected Castor's claim.

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2:50 p.m.

Pennsylvania's governor says state Attorney General Kathleen Kane made the right decision to resign in the wake of her perjury conviction in a grand jury leak case.

Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf said Tuesday that he has confidence in the employees of the state's top law enforcement office to perform its most important functions.

Kane's office said her resignation would go into effect at the end of business Wednesday. The Democrat resigned amid pressure from Wolf and lawmakers a day after jurors found her guilty of abusing her power and lying to cover it up.

Wolf can appoint a replacement for the remainder of Kane's term, with Senate approval, but he's giving no details about any plan to do so.

Kane faces jail time. Her lawyers say they'll appeal.

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1:30 p.m.

Pennsylvania's attorney general is resigning amid pressure from the governor and lawmakers a day after jurors found her guilty of abusing her power and lying to cover it up.

Her office announced in a statement Tuesday that Kathleen Kane would resign at the end of the workday Wednesday.

Kane's exit completes a spectacular fall for the state's highest-ranking female politician. She's a former county prosecutor who soared to victory three years ago as an outsider.

But the first woman and first Democrat elected to attorney general in Pennsylvania squandered her early popularity.

Ultimately, the 50-year-old Kane was undone by what prosecutors portrayed as a personal vendetta for her critics. Now, she's facing jail time and has had her law license suspended.

Kane's lawyers have vowed to appeal.

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9:25 a.m.

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.

Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf says it's time for Democrat Kathleen Kane to do the right thing and step aside. Top state senators threatened a vote ordering her removal from office under a constitutional provision never used in modern history.

Kane's top deputy, Bruce L. Castor Jr., planned a news conference Tuesday afternoon to address questions.

Kane was convicted Monday night of perjury, obstruction and official oppression. Her lawyers say she'll appeal.

Kane doesn't have to resign immediately and could potentially stay in office through Jan. 17, when a new attorney general will be sworn in.

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1:50 a.m.

Pennsylvania's attorney general is expected to address her job status within the next few days after she was convicted of leaking secret criminal files and then lying about it.

Fifty-year-old Kathleen Kane showed little emotion Monday night as the jury convicted her of all nine counts, including two felony perjury counts.

Kane was accused of leaking grand jury secrets to embarrass a rival prosecutor, who she blamed for a critical news article.

She lost her law license over the charges and is fighting pressure to step down. Gov. Tom Wolf, a fellow Democrat, again urged her to resign.

Kane did not testify during the trial, but has said she believes she was targeted for unearthing lewd emails on state computers by what she calls an "old-boys network."

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