HARRISBURG, Pa. — A Harrisburg magisterial district judge filed a lawsuit against law enforcement personnel who she claims targeted her with a "racially motivated" prosecution.
Sonya McKnight was accused of interfering with police during a traffic stop involving her son in February 2020. She was acquitted in 2021 after a Dauphin County judge found that prosecutors did not present sufficient evidence against her.
Her lawsuit, filed in the United States Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania on July 10, alleges that several police officers, a detective and members of the Office of Attorney General filed false reports and otherwise misrepresented what happened the night of the traffic stop.
Police officers Farida Kingsboro, Anthony Cummings, Chad Showers and Dominic Cristillo; special agent Jerrett Ferrari; Chief Deputy Attorney General Kirsten Heine; and Deputy Attorney General Kristyne Crist are named as defendants in the lawsuit.
The police officers allegedly reported that McKnight was agitated during the traffic stop and took her son's car without permission. According to the lawsuit, body and dash camera footage showed that McKnight was relaxed during the incident, standing with her hands in her pockets.
When Ferrari, who was assigned to investigate McKnight's presence at the traffic stop and had previously investigated a shooting at a home owned by McKnight, met with her to discuss the traffic stop, he allegedly told the judge that there was no video of the incident, according to the suit.
The lawsuit also claims that Kingsboro did indeed give McKnight permission to take the car, saying that she was not planning to have it towed.
There was additional disagreement between the parties over whether McKnight had entered her son's vehicle and taken a bottle allegedly containing prescription pills. McKnight denied she had; Kingsboro "was adamant" that the judge did enter the car. According to the lawsuit, dashcam video shows that McKnight never entered her son's car.
When referring to the initial investigation into McKnight's conduct, the lawsuit states "Special Agent Ferrari noted that, 'It was apparent during my interview with all four Officers that they were intimidated by McKnight because of who she is.'"
The defendants are charged with malicious prosecution in violation of Fourteenth Amendment, conspiracy to remove plaintiff from office via malicious prosecution in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment, malicious prosecution in violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment, malicious abuse of process in violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments, conspiracy to remove plaintiff from office via malicious prosecution and abuse of process with racial animus in violation of the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments, abuse of process in violation of Pennsylvania law, malicious prosecution in violation of Pennsylvania law, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent infliction of emotional distress. McKnight is also seeking punitive damages.
"The fabrication of evidence and charges and malicious prosecution of Judge McKnight was the result of a vast conspiracy to frame and prosecute Judge McKnight because of her race and gender, which Defendants unreasonably and stereotypically associated with criminal activities," the lawsuit says.
