The trial for an Allegheny County Common Pleas judge accused of judicial misconduct will be held in November in Jefferson County.

Conference Judge John H. Foradora, who serves as president judge of Jefferson County, will preside over the case against Judge Mark V. Tranquilli beginning on Nov. 19 in Brookville.

Foradora set a hearing date on motions in the case for Oct. 14.

Tranquilli faces six charges of misconduct following an investigation into alleged racist comments he made referring to a juror following a trial in January.

The allegations include that he engaged in “racial or other harassment,” and that he brought disrepute to, and failed to promote public confidence in, the court.

The claims stem from four cases over which Tranquilli presided and allege violations of both the Code of Judicial Conduct, as well as the state Constitution.

Tranquilli was placed on administrative leave by Allegheny County President Judge Kim Berkeley Clark in February and was officially suspended without pay by the Court of Judicial Discipline on Aug. 26.

Tranquilli appealed the suspension, alleging due process vioations, but the court denied his petition on Sept. 17.

Monday is the deadline for Tranquilli to file his omnibus pretrial motion in the case.

On Friday, the Judicial Conduct Board, which is the prosecuting agency in the case, filed a motion asking Foradora to prohibit Tranquilli from being able to offer as evidence a report and expert testimony stemming from a polygraph examination he took.

Deputy counsel James P. Klemen Jr. wrote in the motion that such evidence is “generally inadmissible in criminal and attorney disciplinary proceedings in this commonwealth due to the inherent unreliability of polygraph examinations.”

Foradora was appointed to the Court of Judicial Discipline in October 2017. He has served as the president — and only — judge in Jefferson County since 2001 and ran unsuccessfully for the state Supreme Court in 2015.

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