The Supreme Court of the state of Georgia, in the United States, orders the removal of a judge after she attacked a police officer outside a nightclub last week.
The video, captured last Thursday by a police officer’s body camera, shows Judge Christiana Peterson twice pushing a peace officer dressed in plain clothes. The latter was accused of assault and obstructing the work of a police officer.
The magistrate interfered in the intervention of the police officer while he was trying to help a security agent who was escorting a woman outside the establishment.
“Let her go, let her go,” she cried. The judge was then handcuffed and placed inside a patrol car.
According to Ms. Peterson’s lawyer, the woman was attacked by an individual outside the bar, which prompted her to intervene. She would never have intended to attack the police officer. Two witnesses, including the alleged victim, corroborated his version of the facts during a press conference last Friday.
“He hit me in the face and Judge Peterson was the only one to come and help me,” she pleaded.
Behavior that “does not correspond to decorum”
Christiana Peterson will be barred from holding any state judicial office for seven years after being accused of “judicial misconduct” throughout her term, which began in December 2020.
Georgia’s highest court ruled that Peterson showed a “total disregard for the laws, rules and proper conduct in a court of law.”
The latter notably judged a woman for contempt of court after she asked him to correct an error in her marriage certificate. She was sentenced to 20 days in prison “without any further explanation,” the panel of judges said.
Judge Peterson was also accused of allowing unauthorized people into the courthouse after hours and using her deputies to work overtime on her behalf.
The lawyer’s inappropriate behavior extended outside of the courts, as she allegedly had “hostile exchanges” with her neighbors during a meeting with her homeowners association which she is taking to court.
His attitude “does not correspond to the decorum expected of a judge,” the Supreme Court stressed in its judgment.
His arrest last week was not taken into account in the decision rendered against him.
