The Supreme Court of the US state of Georgia ordered the removal of a judge who assaulted a police officer outside a nightclub last week.
Video captured by a police officer’s body camera last Thursday shows Judge Christiana Peterson pushing a plainclothes peace officer twice. The latter was accused of assaulting a police officer and obstructing duty.
The judge intervened when a police officer tried to help a security guard escort a woman out of the establishment.
“Let her go, let her go,” she cried. The judge was then handcuffed and placed in a patrol car.
According to Ms Peterson’s lawyer, the woman was assaulted by a man outside the bar, prompting her to intervene. She would never have thought of attacking a 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 only Judge Peterson came and helped me,” she pleaded.
“Indecent” behavior
Christiana Peterson will be barred from holding state judicial office for seven years. The latter was accused of demonstrating “judicial misconduct” throughout his mandate, which began in December 2020.
Georgia’s Supreme Court ruled that Peterson had “complete disregard for the laws, rules and proper conduct in a court of law.”
The latter specifically held a woman in contempt of court after she asked him to correct an error in her marriage certificate. A panel of judges said she was sentenced to 20 days in jail “without further explanation”.
Judge Peterson was accused of allowing unauthorized people into the courthouse after hours and using his deputies to work overtime on his behalf.
The lawyer’s inappropriate behavior extended outside the courts, as he had “hostile exchanges” with his neighbors during meetings with his homeowners association that would lead him to court.
His attitude was “not consistent with the decorum expected of a judge,” the Supreme Court underlined in its judgment.
His arrest last week did not take into account the decision taken against him.
