Judge involved in White Castle fracas is suspended after arrest for alleged domestic battery
Judge Sabrina Bell is an elected judge for the Crawford County Circuit Court in Indiana. (Photo from Ballotpedia.)
An Indiana judge previously suspended for involvement in a White Castle altercation has been suspended once again, this time because of allegations that she struck her ex-husband in the face.
Judge Sabrina Bell of Crawford County was suspended with pay, as required by Indiana ethics rules, because she has been charged with a felony: domestic battery in the presence of a child less than 16 years old. She was charged in an information filed on May 12.
The Indiana Supreme Court imposed the suspension on May 12, pending further order of the court.
Bell was previously suspended for 30 days without pay following an altercation in which she and two male judges got in a fight with two strangers in a White Castle parking lot in Indianapolis. The two other judges suffered gunshot wounds after one of the strangers opened fire.
The White Castle fight occurred in May 2019 following a night of heavy drinking after a judicial conference, according to the ethics complaint in the case. The fight allegedly began after the two strangers yelled something from a car window, and Bell raised her middle finger at the men. The men pulled into the White Castle, where a verbal fight turned physical between the male judges and the two strangers.
A probable cause affidavit in the domestic battery case says Bell’s ex-husband told deputies that Bell started a verbal argument with him when he arrived to pick up their three children for a scheduled visit on April 12. The ex-husband said the argument ended with Bell striking him on the left side of his face with her hand.
Interviews conducted by the Indiana Department of Child Services confirmed that two children, ages 12 and 8, witnessed the battery, the probable cause affidavit says.
