New video released of former Douglas County judge’s arrest at Buckhead nightclub

ATLANTA – Atlanta police have released new video showing the arrest of former Douglas County Judge Christina Peterson at a local nightclub.

The hours of footage, released just after 1 a.m. on July 4, shows the incident recorded by multiple dash cams and body-worn cameras.

Peterson was arrested on June 20. According to an Atlanta Police report obtained by FOX 5, an officer working an extra shift at the Red Martini Restaurant and Bar on Peachtree Road in Buckhead noticed a disturbance outside the establishment and tried to escort the woman out.

While he was helping security de-escalate the situation, another woman, later identified as Peterson, approached the officer and began yelling at the security guard and the officer. Police say she then forcibly pushed the officer in the chest. Despite the officer’s attempts to help the woman who was being escorted away, Peterson continued to interfere, striking the officer’s hands.

MORE: Georgia Supreme Court Justice Christina Peterson Should Be Removed

Police say Peterson was arrested after being stabbed in the chest a second time. However, she repeatedly refused to provide her identification, causing delays in processing her. Later investigation allowed officers to confirm her identity.

In the new video, Peterson appears visibly emotional as he sits in the back of the patrol car and tells officers, “Check me in… unbuckle your seatbelt and check me in.”

She later told police she “had not committed any crimes.”

“This is harassment,” Peterson says in the footage. “This is political stunts.”

The recording also shows that Peterson mistook the police officer who arrested her for the man who allegedly attacked the woman she was supposedly defending.

She accuses him of hitting another woman and handcuffing her because she disagrees with his lack of respect for women.

“This woman did nothing to him, Lord. He laid his hands on her, and I couldn’t sit and watch and watch, Lord. I watched him, and he… In the name of Jesus, Lord, he was touched by the devil in a demonic spirit, Lord, that he laid his hands on me in retaliation, and Lord, in his… demonic spirit, Lord. I’m going to let him live in what he was living in, Lord. And he won’t succeed, but he’s going to do what he’s going to do right now. But Lord, you said that vengeance is mine and I will repay, Lord. I want you to repay right now. I hope you’re seeking mercy for this man.”

Peterson spent several hours in the back of the officer’s cruiser and was clearly distressed by what had happened at the nightclub. During her detention, she alternated between screaming, crying, praying and finally sleeping.

At one point, she seems to believe the officer is not going to take her to jail. She accuses him of false imprisonment and tells him that her people know who she left with and they know she didn’t commit suicide.

“Listen up. Hey, everybody. It’s me. I want everybody to know that I’m not suicidal. If something happens to me, I didn’t kill myself. This cop has me in the back seat of his car. False arrest, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution. This man beat up a woman outside the Red Martini, then he knocked me down and handcuffed me. My guys sold him out and begged him not to take me. They told him who I was, but they didn’t. Please understand, good people. If something happens to me, it’s not me, please look for me, please try to find me and please understand that I have never, never, never, never, never been suicidal. I would never kill myself, I would never hurt myself. It would take someone else to do it. And it’s this man, Wadsworth, whatever his name is, the Atlanta Police Department,” Peterson said.

LINK TO NEW RECORDINGS

The new video confirms Atlanta police’s position that she refused to give her last name. Peterson was asked multiple times by several different officers for her personal information, but she refused each time. However, the video also shows that her friends at the nightclub repeatedly told the arresting officer that she was a judge and gave him her last name before she was removed from the scene.

She was charged with obstructing an investigation and simple assault on a police officer.

Former Douglas County judge denies allegations

The day after she was charged, Peterson, her lawyer and witnesses held a news conference where they declared her innocent.

Witnesses testified that Peterson tried to defend Alexandria Love from a brutal attack when an unidentified man accused her of pushing in front of him in the food truck line.

“He attacked me viciously,” Love said, “he hit me in the face, and Judge Peterson was the only person who helped me.”

Witnesses Madison Shannon Kelly and Alexandria Love say the judge did nothing wrong.

“I see this person flying past me and I didn’t know who she was,” Kelly told reporters. “But I know she helped my friend, and if she hadn’t, I don’t know what we would be saying today.”

One new piece of body camera footage seemed to corroborate their story, with an unidentified man telling police that Peterson “jumped in to help the girl” before describing the former judge as “tipsy.”

A witness recorded video of Judge Peterson being detained by officers. Fulton County Attorney and Commissioner Marvin Arrington Jr. requested that Red Martini turn over the related surveillance footage.

“Based on the testimony of eyewitnesses and the victim, we believe the tapes will support that Judge Peterson should not be arrested,” Arrington explained.

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Georgia Supreme Court Removes Peterson from Judgeship

On June 25, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled that Peterson should be removed from office. She also will not be eligible for election or appointment to any Georgia judicial office for the next seven years.

The rookie Douglas County judge has been the subject of several investigations by the FOX 5 I-Team since taking office in late 2020.

The Judicial Qualifications Commission (JQC) ruled in April that Peterson had engaged in “systemic incompetence” because she ignored court rules, abused court staff, made inappropriate social media posts and, in several cases, failed to perform her duties.

The decision comes after four separate hearings that began in September 2023. She was charged with 30 counts of misconduct.

In their ruling, the judges agreed with the JQC’s findings in the case.

Peterson was in her final year on the bench. She recently lost a re-election bid.