Judge arrested outside nightclub is ousted from bench, partly for jailing litigant
A Georgia judge arrested outside an Atlanta nightclub June 20 for allegedly obstructing a police officer won’t be returning to the bench. (Image from Shutterstock)
Updated: A Georgia judge arrested outside an Atlanta nightclub June 20 for allegedly obstructing a police officer won't be returning to the bench.
The June 25 ouster of Judge Christina Peterson of Douglas County, Georgia, wasn’t because of the incident outside the Red Martini Restaurant and Lounge, however. The Georgia Supreme Court imposed the sanction partly for Peterson’s jailing of a litigant and for pressing a panic button to summon a sheriff’s deputy who was late.
At a press conference Friday, a lawyer for Peterson said Peterson will be “completely exonerated” in the incident outside the bar. Lawyer Marvin Arrington Jr. said Peterson was “simply trying to be a good Samaritan” by trying to protect a woman who had been assaulted, according to Law360.
Publications covering the Georgia Supreme Court’s decision include Atlanta News First, the Legal Profession Blog, Bloomberg Law and Law360.
A hearing panel had recommended Peterson’s removal in March after finding that her behavior constituted willful misconduct in office and conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice.
The hearing panel findings were not clearly erroneous, the Georgia Supreme Court said.
Considered separately, Peterson’s ethics violations likely wouldn’t warrant removal from the bench, the Georgia Supreme Court said. But Peterson’s pattern of violations, along with a finding of “disingenuous, if not outright dishonest” testimony during ethics proceedings, make removal the proper sanction, the state supreme court concluded.
The “most troubling allegation” against Peterson was that she sentenced a woman to jail after holding her in contempt for incorrectly naming her father on a marriage license application, the state supreme court said.
The woman came to court because she wanted to change the incorrect name. She said she had listed her uncle’s name on the application because her father was not involved in her life and her uncle had raised her. Peterson thought that the woman was trying to amend the application to help her mother emigrate from Thailand to the United States.
Peterson sentenced the woman to 20 days in jail but allowed her to win release after two days if she paid a $500 fine.
Peterson provided no notice to the woman of the possible contempt finding, according to the Georgia Supreme Court. Peterson’s actions “evinced a willful disregard for the basic requirements of due process,” the state supreme court said.
The Georgia Supreme Court also other findings, including:
• Peterson asked sheriff’s deputies to be present on three occasions when the courthouse was closed, so she could have after-hours access. Two requests asked deputies to be on-site overnight, and another sought a sheriff’s deputy until midnight. Peterson was “unable to provide a particular reason why she needed to be physically present in the courthouse at those times,” the Georgia Supreme Court said.
• When a deputy didn’t show up on time to escort Peterson from her chambers to the courtroom, she pushed a panic button under her desk to summon the deputy. She later testified that she didn’t realize the button was only for emergencies; the hearing panel “expressly discredited Judge Peterson’s testimony on that point,” the state supreme court said.
• After Peterson filed a lawsuit against her neighborhood homeowners association, she attended an HOA meeting and told two members of the board of directors that she would dismiss her suit if they had a special election. After the meeting, she told the two board members that their lawyers were giving them bad advice. The episode constituted improper communications with represented parties in a suit, the Georgia Supreme Court said.
The Georgia Supreme Court said it didn’t have to consider the hearing panel’s findings on other ethics violations because there is already enough evidence warranting Peterson’s removal from the bench. She can’t return to any judicial office for seven years.
One allegation not addressed by the Georgia Supreme Court was that Peterson demonstrated “systemic judicial incompetence and a disregard for the law.”
Lester Tate, a lawyer for Peterson, gave this statement to the ABA Journal: “As a trial lawyer, you never like to lose a case. I will let my client speak to the substance of the charges because it is and has been her case. Procedurally, I’m pleased that we were able to provide her with a vigorous defense in court, getting numerous counts dismissed and fighting off two motions for interim suspension, even though today we lost the ultimate battle.”
Updated June 26 at 12:40 p.m. to add lawyer Lester Tate’s full statement.
