Lawyers, judges, and the rest of the legal tribe usually prefer their courtroom drama metaphorical. Philadelphia’s courts, however, have delivered the real thing with a former judge winding up on the criminal list.
Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge Michael Fanning, a Family Court judge appointed in 2014, has been charged with multiple offences including strangulation, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment following an alleged domestic violence incident involving his wife and daughter.
According to prosecutors, the incident began as a verbal dispute at the family home but escalated dramatically. Authorities allege that Fanning punched and strangled his wife, while their adult daughter was injured when she attempted to intervene in the confrontation.
