The New Hampshire Department of Justice is scrutinizing a series of personnel maneuvers that allowed a Judicial Branch employee with close ties to the chief justice of the state Supreme Court to collect nearly $50,000 in employment benefits following a 48-hour layoff.

On Oct. 27, a top state prosecutor sent letters to an attorney representing Chief Justice Gordon MacDonald, as well as to the top administrative judge for the state judiciary, telling them to preserve records related to the employment of Dianne Martin. Meanwhile, MacDonald has hired Jane Young — his former deputy when he served as New Hampshire Attorney General and a former U.S. attorney — to represent him in the state's inquiry.

In addition to contacting the chief justice, the Department of Justice has sent similar preserv

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