Ex-judge found not guilty in brawl outside Buckhead club
Through tears and deep breaths, a former Douglas County judge learned Thursday she was found not guilty for her involvement in a fight outside a Buckhead nightclub.
Christina Peterson, who represented herself during the trial that began Tuesday, had been arrested in June 2024 and was accused of willful obstruction of law enforcement officers, a misdemeanor.
The jury took just under an hour to unanimously agree on a verdict.
“I’m just glad someone got to look at the facts,” Peterson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in a nearly empty Fulton County courtroom as she prepared to leave.
Peterson was removed as Douglas County’s probate judge in June 2024 for misconduct spanning her time on the bench, unrelated to the bar incident. She is still an attorney in good standing with the Georgia bar, according to state records.
Just days before her removal from the bench, she had been arrested outside the Red Martini Restaurant and Lounge, accused of hitting an Atlanta police officer and refusing to identify herself.
Peterson was initially charged with battery and felony obstruction. In November 2025, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis dropped those charges.
A previously filed accusation sheet said Peterson interfered with an officer, Kenneth Wadsworth, as he was restraining an individual involved in a physical altercation.
Peterson has maintained her arrest was “a setup” and that she was trying to help a woman who was being attacked outside the club.
The woman under attack, Alexandria Love, said shortly after the arrest that Peterson was the only one who helped her.
Last month, Peterson filed a lawsuit claiming to be the victim of the encounter. Her complaint demands a jury trial and compensation “believed to exceed” $50 million for “physical injury, emotional distress, loss of liberty, and widespread reputational and professional harm.”
The City of Atlanta filed a motion to dismiss the complaint last week.
Peterson was elected as a Douglas probate judge unopposed in 2020 and almost immediately faced complaints of misconduct. She was first charged with ethics code violations in July 2021.
The Georgia Judicial Qualifications Commission recommended Peterson be removed from office in early 2024. The Georgia Supreme Court agreed and ousted her several months later. Peterson’s arrest did not factor in her removal.
— Staff writer Rosie Manins contributed to this report.
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