ATLANTA — Former Douglas County probate judge Christina Peterson is defending herself in the trial for her 2024 arrest.
Channel 2’s Tom Jones was in the Fulton County courtroom on Wednesday as Peterson said the officer she’s accused of punching had no legal authority to arrest her.
But the jury heard from two security guards at the Red Martini Lounge who testified that they saw Peterson hit the officer.
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“She had like punched him,” Alain Michael Koassi said. “And I’m screaming, ‘That’s a cop, that’s a cop! What are you doing?’”
Andy Elias testified that he confronted Peterson.
“You asked me what you did, and I said, ‘You assaulted a police officer,’” Elias said.
Prosecutors say Officer Keith Wadsworth’s body camera shows Peterson, who had nothing to do with the incident, obstructing the officer, cursing and punching him.
But Peterson, a licensed attorney, denies hitting him. She says he did not issue any commands and had no authority to make an arrest.
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Officer Wadsworth testified that the video shows Peterson interfering with his investigation.
“You proceeded to throw a punch and hit me in my collarbone. Then, I proceeded to place you under arrest,” Wadsworth said.
Peterson urged the jury to pay attention to everything happening in the video.
“If you look at one video and see a bodycam, that a piece of video,” she said. “Make sure you look at everything that’s presented.”
Peterson faces a misdemeanor charge of willful obstruction of law enforcement and faces up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
She told the judge she plans to take the stand after presenting her case.
The Georgia Supreme Court removed Peterson from the bench over ethics violations that were unrelated to this case.
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