Former Magisterial District Judge Sonya McKnight leaves the Dauphin County Courthouse after her sentencing for attempting to murder her ex-boyfriend.
The last thing any lawyer wants is a higher court to note anything about them “with displeasure.”
But that’s what the Superior Court said about a Pennsylvania attorney who hasn’t corrected a minor clerical oversight a month after being directed to do so, according to a Thursday order.
The court threatened to sanction James Henderson Bonner, who is representing former magistrate judge Sonya McKnight. McKnight shot her ex-boyfriend, Michael McCoy, in the head on Feb. 10, 2024.
McCoy survived the attempt on his life and testified against McKnight at a May, 2025 trial. A Delaware County jury eventually convicted her of attempted murder.
McKnight’s currently incarcerated at SCI Cambridge Springs in northwestern Pennsylvania on a 13.5-to-30-year sentence. She’s maintained her innocence and has insisted that just because she was alone in the house with McCoy at the time the gun went off doesn’t mean she was the one who shot him.
Bonner, who stepped in to represent McKnight at the Superior Court level, is now arguing the judge’s instructions to the jury contaminated their judgment. On Thursday, the Superior Court issued a terse order within McKnight’s docket.
Bonner electronically filed two documents on behalf of McKnight through the Superior Court’s digital PACFile system on March 27.
While Bonner filed the documents digitally, court policy states he must also file a paper version and as many copies as the court requires.
When he didn’t do so, the Superior Court administrators tried contacting Bonner by letter April 9, and the court signed an order April 17 directing him to file paper copies within a week. He filed one of the two documents: A brief arguing McKnight should get a new trial.
As of Thursday, he still hadn’t filed a reproduced record — a collection of documents from the lower court that brings the Superior Court up to speed on the case’s history.
“This Court notes with displeasure that Attorney Bonner has failed to comply,” the court wrote Thursday.
If Bonner doesn’t file the paper documents within 30 days, the Superior Court may impose sanctions against him, it said. It’s unclear what those specific sanctions could be.
The Superior Court will sometimes dismiss entire cases depending on the circumstances behind a failure to follow filing policy, according to Sam Stretton, a West Chester attorney who has represented judges and attorneys for around 50 years
Such an oversight could be serious depending on the attorney’s background, and it could potentially end in reprimand or censure, Stretton said. If McKnight’s case gets dismissed as a consequence of Bonner not correctly filing documents, it could expose him to malpractice liability too, Stretton said.
