HARRISBURG, Pa. — Update, 11:30 a.m. (Feb. 9): The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Court of Judicial Discipline ordered Judge Sonya McKnight to be suspended without pay, effective immediately.
Previously
The Pennsylvania Judicial Conduct Board announced Monday it is filing formal misconduct charges against a Dauphin County Magisterial District Judge for her actions during a traffic stop involving her son in Harrisburg on Feb. 22, 2020.
Judge Sonya M. McKnight, 54, of Harrisburg, was formally charged in the Court of Judicial Discipline on Monday, the Board said.
She is accused of "violating the rules governing standards of conduct of magisterial district judges and the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in relation to her alleged conduct," according to the Board's filing.
“Any time a sitting judge is facing criminal charges is a significant area of concern to the board,” said Richard Long, the Board's chief counsel.
The Board said it has also filed a petition to suspend McKnight without pay, pending the outcome of the Board's complaint, according to a press release issued Monday afternoon.
Should the Court determine McKnight is guilty of judicial misconduct, she would face potential sanctions including censure, suspension, fines, and/or removal from office, the Board said.
McKnight’s criminal and conduct charges will proceed separately through different court systems, with different burdens of proof.
“In a criminal case, proof is required beyond a reasonable doubt. In our cases before the Court of Judicial Discipline it’s a lesser standard of clear and convincing evidence,” Long said.
McKnight, who has served in her position since 2016, was charged with tampering with evidence, obstructing administration of law, and official oppression by the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General on Dec. 16, 2020, following an investigation of her actions during her son's traffic stop earlier in the year.
She was placed on administrative leave by Dauphin County President Judge John F. Cherry one day later, according to the Board's filing.
This is the second time in her career that McKnight has been 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 in August, according to a spokesperson for the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts.
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.
In the Feb. 2020 incident, according to a criminal complaint filed against McKnight by the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General, McKnight's son, Kevin Baltimore, was pulled over on a traffic violation and for suspected narcotics activity at 2:20 a.m. in the area of North 6th and Peffer streets in the city.
Baltimore allegedly told one of the officers his mother was a magisterial district judge and called her despite being told not to use his phone by the officers.
Police later learned Baltimore had an outstanding warrant and detained him, investigators said in the criminal complaint against McKnight.
McKnight arrived on the scene minutes later and immediately began questioning the officers about why her son had been stopped, investigators claim. She argued that her son had been paying on the outstanding warrant and allegedly became "agitated" when she learned police were searching her son, the complaint states.
When told the registration on Baltimore's vehicle was expired, McKnight allegedly argued that she had paid for his registration, according to investigators.
She also allegedly asked the officers "if Commissioner Carter was working," referring to Harrisburg Police Commissioner Thomas Carter.
A search warrant for McKnight's phone records later revealed McKnight had called Carter at 2:33 a.m., prior to her arrival on the scene of the traffic stop, according to investigators. Carter later confirmed he had received a call from McKnight.
Therefore, investigators claim, McKnight knew Carter was not working at the time of the traffic stop, and her question to the officers "was intended to intimidate or influence (them)."
McKnight also allegedly entered Baltimore's vehicle without permission and removed a bottle of pills one of the officers had discovered and set aside to examine later, investigators claim. Baltimore and McKnight claimed the pills were for Baltimore's high blood pressure. But by taking the bottle, McKnight ensured police did not have the chance to open it and examine its contents, the complaint states.
The officers involved told investigators from the Attorney General's Office that McKnight's status as a magisterial district judge allowed her to freely move around the scene.
"They said had it been a normal citizen, they would not have allowed her to do the things she did, such as entering her son's (vehicle," the complaint states. "They said they would have had her stand back from the scene and they would have addressed any concerns she had after they had collected any and all necessary evidence."
