HARRISBURG, Pa. — A Harrisburg Magisterial District Judge has been ordered to serve 10 additional days of unpaid suspension this month -- nearly a year and a half after she was acquitted of criminal charges accusing her of obstructing a traffic stop involving her son.
In a ruling issued Tuesday, the Pennsylvania Court of Judicial Discipline said Magisterial District Judge Sonya McKnight must complete 200 days of unpaid suspension and spend a year on probation.
McKnight had already been credited with serving 190 days of unpaid suspension. The remaining 10 days must be served beginning Feb. 9, the court ordered.
Authorities charged McKnight with tampering with evidence, official oppression and obstruction of justice after she allegedly went to the scene of a Harrisburg traffic stop involving her son, Kevin Baltimore, on the night of Feb. 22, 2020.
McKnight was accused of using her position to interfere with police during the stop. She also was accused of entering her son's car and removing a pill bottle, authorities said at the time.
The state's Judicial Conduct Board also filed a misconduct charge against McKnight in the aftermath of the traffic stop.
McKnight was acquitted of all charges in July 2021.
The Court of Judicial Discipline said it used a different set of criteria to determine that McKnight must complete her 200-day unpaid suspension. In its ruling, the court said McKnight “acknowledged her improper misconduct” and “voiced contrition over (it).”
The court also determined McKnight must serve a year of probation following her suspension, during which "(She must) not commit any more ethical violations of any nature,” the court wrote in its ruling.
The court also said McKnight's behavior "eroded respect for the judiciary."
This is the second time in McKnight's career that she was placed on administrative leave.
In 2019, she was placed on voluntary paid leave during the investigation of a shooting that occurred at a home that tax records show she owned in Harrisburg.
The victim in the shooting was reportedly McKnight's estranged husband, reports at the time said.
McKnight returned to the bench when her voluntary leave ended that year, and no charges were filed in the case, according to the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General, which presided over the investigation. No explanation was provided at the time.
