HARRISBURG — A Pittsburgh judge who allegedly referred to a Black juror as “Aunt Jemima” was accused of misconduct in office Wednesday by the state’s entity that investigates and prosecutes judicial wrongdoing.

The Judicial Conduct Board complaint alleges that Allegheny County Judge Mark Tranquilli, a white former prosecutor who has been on the bench since 2014, made demeaning comments to and about litigants and defendants in violation of state constitutional standards and state rules that govern judges’ behavior.

After the verdict in a January 2020 drug case, the complaint states, Tranquilli referred to a Black juror who wore her hair in a kerchief as “Aunt Jemima” during in-chambers discussions with lawyers. He is also charged with speculating that the juror’s “baby daddy” was a heroin dealer.

A spokeswoman for Tranquilli’s lawyer said neither Tranquilli nor the lawyer would comment.

The complaint alleges that during an August 2015 custody hearing, Tranquilli said his only concern was his own three children, not the litigants’ children, and described himself as a former homicide prosecutor who was “merely passing time in the family division” until he could be assigned criminal cases.