A final hearing to determine whether a temporary peace order against Anne Arundel County Orphans’ Court Judge Marc Knapp will be extended was postponed until Aug. 6 on Wednesday due to a scheduling conflict.
This is the second peace order filed against Knapp by Orphans’ Court Chief Justice Vickie Gipson. Gipson previously accused her colleague of harassing her and other staff members at their Annapolis office.
The first peace order was filed in May, but dropped last week when a district court judge ruled its final court hearing missed a legal deadline.
Gipson told the Capital Gazette the trial’s postponement is a “disservice to the county and victims of this type of behavior.”
When asked about the postponement, Knapp’s lawyer, Peter O’Neill, did not address specifics of the case.
In addition to the civil order against him, Knapp is facing a criminal stalking charge filed by Gipson at the time of the first peace order. Stalking is a misdemeanor in Maryland law involving “malicious course of conduct” which the offender intended to or should have known would put someone in fear of harm.
Knapp is also facing charges of violating the first peace order and tampering with evidence after police said he recorded conversations with Gipson and the third Orphans’ Court judge, David Duba. After telling officers he had weeks’ worth of audio, police said Knapp deleted them because “they weren’t necessary.”
Those trials are expected to start Aug. 17 and Sept. 20, respectively.
The rescheduled peace order hearing will determine whether the restrictions between Knapp and Gipson will be extended beyond the six-month administrative leave Knapp is currently on.
