MD commission adds to charges against Anne Arundel Orphans’ Court judge

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Maryland’s judicial disciplinary body has added to its charges against an Anne Arundel County Orphans’ Court judge, now also alleging Judge Marc Knapp intentionally deleted cellphone recordings in the presence of police officers that he took of his judicial colleagues in chambers without their knowledge or consent.

The amended charges come after state prosecutors dropped wiretapping and misconduct in office charges against Knapp last month following the Anne Arundel County Circuit Court’s April ruling that Knapp’s cellphone recordings should be excluded from trial. Judge Christine Celeste granted Knapp’s motion to suppress his cellphone recordings seized by police, finding the state’s search warrant lacked particularity.

Knapp, who the Maryland Commission on Judicial Disabilities previously charged with engaging in verbal altercations with fellow Anne Arundel County Orphans’ Court Chief Judge Vickie Gipson and undercutting her authority and directives, has denied any misconduct.

The commission appears to be picking up where state prosecutors left off when they entered a nolle prosequi in the case.

According to court documents and proceedings, Gipson called Anne Arundel police on June 20, 2024, alleging Knapp was violating a peace order that had been put in place against him by Gipson stemming from Gipson’s allegations that Knapp had harassed and stalked her and created “workplace violence and discriminatory animus.” Police responded to the orphans’ court and listened to one of Knapp’s cellphone recordings, from which an officer later observed that there were “significantly less recordings” on Knapp’s cellphone than moments earlier, leading to the seizure of his cellphone.

Prosecutors argued the good faith exception applied to the search, where Knapp admitted to deleting recordings in front of police. Investigative counsel for the commission wrote Knapp’s actions “had the effect of … impugning the dignity and integrity of his judicial office.”

Investigative counsel for the commission previously found Knapp “was the primary aggressor” in confrontations with Gipson and “would act in a hostile, aggressive, disrespectful, and unprofessional manner” towards her, routinely using profanity and invading Gipson’s personal space and that of other court staff who would attempt to intervene or who Knapp perceived to be aligned with Gipson.

Knapp has said many of the incidents the commission cited, including confrontations with Gipson in areas of the orphans’ court that were open to the public when members of the public were present, “are taken out of context, misconstrued or otherwise false.” Knapp claims he “met resistance” for attempting to improve the orphans’ court operations, and says he did not escalate legal disagreements into unprofessional conduct.

Gipson is also facing charges before the Maryland Commission on Judicial Disabilities for engaging in verbal altercations, presumably with Knapp, among other findings by the commission’s investigative counsel. Gipson, in her response to the charges, cited “mitigating circumstances of workplace violence and discriminatory animus” by Knapp.

The commission will consider charges brought against Knapp on Oct. 14, 29 and 30, and consider charges against Gipson on Aug. 21, Aug. 22 and Oct. 10 at the Howard County Circuit Court.

The Maryland Supreme Court placed Knapp on interim suspension with pay in December, pending further order of the high court.