Philly Common Pleas Court Judge Anne Marie Coyle will keep her seat despite facing complaint

Philadelphia voters on Tuesday gave Common Pleas Court Judge Anne Marie B. Coyle a second 10-year term on the bench, despite a flare of recent controversy about her alleged courtroom behavior.

Candidates for judge initially run on a Republican or Democratic ballot but seek retention for new terms in nonpartisan elections.

Coyle was one of 11 Common Pleas judges on Tuesday’s ballot seeking retention for 10-year terms. along with seven Municipal Court judges seeking six-year terms.

» READ MORE: Follow along here for live Election Day updates

Coyle was the only judge up for retention in the city who was rated “not recommended” by the Philadelphia Bar Association.

The Inquirer reported three weeks ago that Coyle was the subject of a scathing judicial conduct complaint filed by the Defender Association of Philadelphia in February.

Documents reviewed for that story showed that Coyle was accused of biased and improper handling of a case in which she was said to have threatened with contempt of court charges a prosecutor and defense lawyer, trying to coerce the defense lawyer into recusing himself, and improperly offering the defendant in the case leniency if he would drop a call for Coyle to recuse herself.

Coyle served as an assistant district attorney for 15 years and was working as a family-law attorney in 2013 when she won her third try for judge after having lost bids in 2009 and 2011.

She ran without an endorsement of the city’s Democratic Party but had a strong showing, likely because her name was randomly chosen in the first ballot position among 22 candidates that year.