HARRISBURG -- A hearing today on motions filed in a government corruption case is scheduled to last through tomorrow, but it could go much longer if defense attorneys are allowed to call the dozens of witnesses they have subpoenaed.

"This is the first day we get to be affirmative in this matter and call our own witnesses to answer questions," said Attorney Michael Palermo, who represents defendant Annamarie Perretta-Rosepink and coordinated subpoenas for all 11 defendants.

Mr. Palermo may not get that chance if attorneys representing the House Democratic caucus have their way. They are asking Dauphin County President Judge Richard Lewis to quash caucus members' subpoenas and to prevent defendants from issuing additional subpoenas from "any other legislative personnel."

House Republican spokesman Steve Miskin said he did not know whether his caucus filed a similar motion to quash.

The criminal case revolves around former House member Mike Veon and 11 others associated with the House Democratic caucus, including Ms. Perretta-Rosepink, who worked in Mr. Veon's Beaver Falls office. They are accused of using state resources to run Democratic incumbents' political campaigns.

Mr. Palermo said he subpoenaed 43 witnesses.

Among those receiving subpoenas are Minority Whip Mike Turzai of Bradford Woods; Majority Whip Bill DeWeese of Waynesburg; and state Revenue Secretary Steve Stetler, a former state representative and former officer of the House Democratic Campaign Committee.

Defense attorneys are trying to prove that Republican Attorney General Tom Corbett singled out political opponents while ignoring similar deeds by others, including many within the GOP.

"That's one of the big issues for us," Mr. Palermo said yesterday.

Three Democratic caucus attorneys led by James J. Rohn of Philadelphia, meanwhile, say that selective prosecution is not a valid defense and that defendants are not entitled to an evidentiary hearing.

"Not only are defendants' subpoenas nothing more than a 'fishing expedition' for impermissible pretrial discovery, they are also improperly seeking to compel disclosure of witnesses' statements made before the grand jury," Mr. Rohn and his team argued in a motion filed yesterday. The subpoenas issued in the Capitol on Thursday "are nothing more than a blatant attempt to harass and draw attention to those legislative personnel who may have testified before the grand jury and to create a media 'circus.' "

Mr. Palermo said 43 isn't a large number of a witnesses for a hearing involving 12 defendants.

Three already have agreed to plead guilty. The others are scheduled for trial in September.

Judge Lewis is expected to hear arguments this morning on the motion to quash.