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ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - The Supreme Court of Georgia is ordering the removal of a Douglas County judge who was arrested last week at a Buckhead nightclub.

“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 court said in a ruling issued Tuesday morning. “The JQC Hearing Panel found that Judge Peterson violated multiple rules in the CJC and that 2 those violations warrant her removal from the bench.

“We agree that removal is warranted here ... Accordingly, it is ordered that Judge Christina Peterson of the Douglas County Probate Court be removed from office, effective upon the date of this opinion. As a result, Judge Peterson ‘shall not be eligible to be elected or appointed to any judicial office in this state until seven years have elapsed’ from the date of this opinion.”

Peterson faces two charges — simple battery against a police officer and felony willful obstruction of law enforcement by use of threats of violence, according to Fulton County Jail records.

Atlanta police confirmed Peterson’s arrest at the Red Martini Restaurant and Lounge off Peachtree Road after a 911 call.

After her arrest, Peterson’s attorney, Marvin Arrington Jr. - who is also a Fulton County commissioner - said Peterson stepped in to help a woman who was being “viciously attacked” by a man while at restaurant.

“She was the only one that helped me,” Alexandria Love, the woman at the center of the incident, said.

Love said she was attacked by a man she didn’t know. She also said Peterson, who was standing beside her holding back tears during the conference, didn’t mean to hit an officer during her attempt to break up the alleged attack.

Arrington confirmed Peterson learned of the Supreme Court’s ruling Tuesday morning and is “evaluating her next steps.”

Arrington has called for the charges to be dismissed against Peterson and for the man involved in the assault to be charged. Peterson’s charges include simple battery against a police officer and felony willful obstruction of law enforcement by use of threats of violence, according to jail records.

From the Associated Press:

Peterson, 38, was sworn in as probate judge in December 2020, after winning a contested Democratic primary that year and running unopposed in the November general election. She lost the Democratic primary last month in her bid for reelection. Peterson has been plagued by ethics charges for much of her tenure.

Less than a year into her four-year term, in September 2021, the Judicial Qualifications Commission filed formal charges against her, alleging violations of the Code of Judicial Conduct. The agency amended the charges in February 2022 and again in July 2022, bringing the total to 50 counts of alleged misconduct. Twenty counts were dismissed before and during a final hearing, leaving an agency panel to address 30 counts.

The hearing panel issued a report in March, finding clear and convincing evidence to support 28 of the counts and that discipline was authorized for 20. It concluded that Peterson should be removed from office.

“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,” said Lester Tate, a lawyer for Peterson in the ethics matter.

The Supreme Court said the most troubling allegation against Peterson had to do with her treatment of a woman who appeared before her while trying to correct an error on her marriage certificate. Peterson held the woman in criminal contempt and imposed the maximum jail term of 20 days and a fine “without explanation or justification,” the panel found.

Peterson is also alleged to have allowed people to enter the county courthouse after hours without ensuring proper security screening and then made unjustified requests for deputies to work overtime at taxpayer expense when her after-hours access was limited as a result, the high court opinion says. She also pressed a panic button in her chambers when the deputy assigned to escort her to court did not arrive on time. Those actions “did not demonstrate the decorum and temperament required of a judge,” the opinion says.

The opinion says the hearing panel also found that Peterson “engaged in hostile exchanges” with people at a meeting of her homeowners association while she had an active lawsuit pending against the association. Peterson also gave false testimony before the hearing panel, the opinion says.

The high court conclude that her “multiple violations” of judicial rules — some of which reflected a “flagrant disregard for the law, court rules, and judicial conduct rules” — as well as a “pattern of violations,” some of them “extremely concerning,” made removal from the bench appropriate.

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