A Philly judge took a trip to Florida but tried to mark people ‘guilty in absentia,’ judicial board says

A Philadelphia judge this year tried to devise a way to make it appear as if she’d ruled on traffic citations in her courtroom when she was actually on a trip to Florida, according to Pennsylvania’s Judicial Conduct Board — including by reviewing case files in advance and marking some of them “guilty in absentia.”

Those allegations, announced Monday, form the basis of a disciplinary case filed against Municipal Court Judge Marissa Brumbach. She faces nine counts of judicial misconduct, including charges that she violated the Pennsylvania Constitution.

Melissa L. Norton, the Judicial Conduct Board’s interim chief counsel, wrote in court documents that Brumbach’s actions “undermine both public confidence in the judiciary and the reputation of the judiciary.” If found guilty, potential penalties include suspension or removal from office.

Brumbach — who has been on administrative leave since the attempted scheme was discovered in January — did not return an emailed request for comment.

Her lawyer, Matthew Haverstick, said that Brumbach had not improperly adjudicated any cases and that “everything she did was run by supervisory judges beforehand.”

“Judge Brumbach is an honorable judge and I don’t think she’s done anything wrong,” he said.

The charging documents filed against Brumbach gave the following account.

On Jan. 7, Brumbach was scheduled to preside over 95 traffic citation hearings in Municipal Court. Months earlier, Brumbach had asked to take that day off to attend an event in Florida, but her supervisors denied that request.

Nevertheless, in the days leading up to Jan. 7, Brumbach asked the assistant district attorney working in her courtroom to review the files scheduled for that day and determine which cases, if any, might be withdrawn.

Brumbach then asked her court officers to give her the 95 files, and on Jan. 6, she emailed judicial leadership saying in part: “I have prepared the files for tomorrow” and “if court remains open tomorrow with the impending snow forecast and anyone shows up, my staff and the court staff know what to do.”

In an attempt to figure out what that meant, her supervisors — who are not identified by name in Brumbach’s charging documents — obtained the 95 case files scheduled for Jan. 7, and saw they’d been signed and marked by Brumbach. Some said “guilty in absentia,” others “not guilty in absentia” or “withdrawn,” while 20 had an adjudication that was crossed out.

It was later learned that Brumbach — who did take her trip to Florida — had planned to call her court staff on occasion during the day to docket the cases as if she had been there. If anyone showed up to request a full hearing, her staff was supposed to reschedule it for another day.

Things never got that far: After Brumbach emailed her bosses, the Municipal Court president judge got control of the 95 files and prevented them from being read into the record.

In addition, the courthouse ended up being closed that day due to a snowstorm.

Brumbach was relegated to administrative duties on Jan. 10, and hasn’t returned to the bench since.

The Judicial Conduct Board has asked that she be suspended without pay as the proceedings against her move forward.