Douglas County Probate Judge Christina Peterson, 38, was removed from her position on the bench effective Tuesday, June 25. Her removal came after she was recently arrested for hitting a police officer outside a nightclub in Atlanta, though the removal came because of separate ethics charges she faced, not the nightclub arrest.
In its explanation of why she should be removed, the Georgia Supreme Court found, “In this case, Douglas County Probate Court Judge Christina Peterson has been charged with a number of violations of the Code of Judicial Conduct (“CJC”), including a number of violations that the Judicial Qualifications Commission (“JQC”) says exhibited a pattern of judicial misconduct while in office. The JQC Hearing Panel found that Judge Peterson violated multiple rules in the CJC and that those violations warrant her removal from the bench.”
Continuing, the court provided, “We agree that removal is warranted here. As we explain more below, the Hearing Panel found that the Director proved by clear and convincing evidence 28 of 30 counts alleging that Judge Peterson violated the CJC, and that discipline is authorized under the Georgia Constitution for 20 of those 28 counts.”
It continued, “With respect to all 20 of those counts, we conclude that the Hearing Panel’s findings are not clearly erroneous. And we agree with, and affirm, the Hearing Panel’s conclusion that Judge Peterson’s misconduct warrants discipline with respect to 12 of them, because the Director met her burden of showing that Judge Peterson’s conduct constituted willful misconduct in office or conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice which brings the judicial office into disrepute.”
The court noted that the “clear and convincing evidence came from a number of issues, including, “Judge Peterson’s handling of a criminal contempt matter (Counts 31 to 34), certain aspects of her conduct toward county personnel (Counts 28 and 30), her conduct during a meeting of her neighborhood homeowner’s association (“HOA”) (Count 13), and her handling of a petition for year’s support (Counts 35, 37, 39-40, and
42).”
Peterson was also recently arrested for an incident in which she attacked a police officer outside an Atlanta nightclub. There was reportedly an argument outside the lounge area of the club that turned into a fight. When a police officer got involved, Judge Peterson allegedly hit him, shoving him in the chest. The officer then wrestled her to the ground and handcuffed her.
Watch the footage of the arrest released by the Atlanta Police Department here:
Peterson and witnesses claim that she was trying to stop a fight when her assault of the cop happened. Witness Alexandria Love, for example, said, “She was the one that was grabbing him. She didn’t mean to hit the officer.” Another witness, Madison Kelley, said, “I don’t know what happened but I know she purposely did not want to harm a cop.”
Peterson’s lawyer, attorney Marvin Arrington Jr., claimed that she was acting as a Good Samaritan and the charges should be dropped. He said, “We believe that Atlanta police should dismiss the charges.” He continued, “And if they can’t dismiss them, then the district attorney’s office should.”
Featured image credit: Atlanta Police Department
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