Listen to article \u2022\u00a00:00 min<\/p>\n
Michael Fanning, the Philadelphia Family Court judge who faced domestic violence charges earlier this year on allegations he assaulted his wife and adult daughter<\/a>, resigned from the bench, a person with direct knowledge said.<\/p>\n Prosecutors withdrew the all charges against Fanning<\/a> in July, saying the women did not wish to proceed with the case and the judge had shown proof of \u201cextensive mitigation\u201d in the months since the March incident. <\/p>\n The Inquirer was unable to reach Fanning based on publicly available contact information. <\/p>\n The 60-year-old judge was charged with aggravated assault, strangulation, and related crimes after prosecutors said he repeatedly punched his wife in the face, choked her, and dragged his 30-year-old daughter to the ground by her hair, causing her to cut her face, during a fight at their East Torresdale<\/a> home.<\/p>\n During the July hearing, Assistant District Attorney Brian Collins did not detail the forms of mitigation Fanning presented.<\/p>\n But at a hearing in March, Fanning\u2019s wife said he had voluntarily entered a 30-day inpatient recovery program to treat his alcoholism, an issue the family had worked to address in the past.<\/p>\n The Pennsylvania Court of Discipline suspended Fanning without pay<\/a> after his arrest, but lifted the suspension after the charges were withdrawn<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cWith no charges and no other reason cited for the suspension of Judge Fanning, no reason exists for that suspension to continue,\u201d the order said.<\/p>\n A court spokesperson declined to comment on Fanning\u2019s resignation.<\/p>\n Fanning had been a Family Court judge since then-Gov. Tom Corbett appointed him to the bench in 2014. He won a 10-year term in 2015<\/a>, and was retained for another term in November<\/a>. <\/p>\n