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A late-night confrontation outside an Atlanta nightclub put a Georgia judge in handcuffs and in the headlines, while a separate ethics ruling ended her career on the bench.
The June 2024 arrest of Christina Peterson, then a Douglas County probate judge, was captured on police body cameras as officers responded to a disturbance outside the Red Martini Restaurant and Lounge in Buckhead –
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. Peterson was accused of interfering with an officer trying to break up a fight; she maintained she was helping a woman who was being attacked –
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. Nearly two years later, she was acquitted of the remaining charge — but not before losing her judgeship in an unrelated misconduct case –
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Overview of the incident and the key facts
The scene: Atlanta police responded to a commotion outside Red Martini Restaurant and Lounge around 3 a.m. on June 20, 2024-
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The arrest: Officers said a woman later identified as Christina Peterson rushed toward the commotion, shouted at a security guard and officer, and pushed the officer before being taken into custody –
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The aftermath: Peterson was initially charged with simple battery and felony obstruction; prosecutors later dropped those charges, leaving a single misdemeanor count –
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The verdict: In February 2026, Peterson — representing herself — was found not guilty of misdemeanor obstruction after a two-day trial –
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The judicial removal: The Georgia Supreme Court removed Peterson from the bench on June 25, 2024 for unrelated ethics violations, not for the arrest –
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The confrontation that led to a judge in handcuffs
The body camera footage shows a scene that moves from noisy confusion to physical restraint in seconds. An officer working an extra-duty job at the nightclub heard a commotion and went to investigate, according to police accounts. Security workers were already trying to separate people involved in a dispute. As the officer stepped in to help de-escalate, Peterson approached — and, police said, immediately began yelling at the security guard and the officer –
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What happened next is disputed in its details but not in its outcome. Atlanta police stated that Peterson “forcibly pushed the officer in the chest” and “kept swiping his hands away” as he tried to assist a woman being escorted out –
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. She was taken to the ground and handcuffed as a crowd began to form around the officers –
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The audio captures the chaos of the moment. Peterson’s voice can be heard shouting “Let her go,” followed by protests of “Don’t touch me” as officers worked to restrain her. The footage later shows her seated in the back of a patrol car, where she repeatedly refuses to identify herself. At one point, she tells the officer to “Google me” — a line that would become one of the most memorable fragments of the video –
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. The officer responds by asking for her name so he can do exactly that –
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For the officers on scene, the priority was control. For Peterson, the moment was about something else — at least according to the account she and her attorney would offer in the days that followed.
Two very different accounts of the same night
Within hours of the arrest, a public relations battle began. Peterson’s attorney, Marvin Arrington Jr., held an emotional press conference the next day. He described Peterson not as an aggressor but as a Good Samaritan who had stepped in to help a woman being “viciously” attacked by a man outside the club –
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The woman at the center of that account, Alexandria Love, stood alongside the attorney and told reporters her version. She said a man had accused her of cutting him in a food-truck line, then attacked her — punching her in the face. In her telling, Peterson was “the only one that helped me”-
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. Love also said Peterson did not realize she was putting her hands on a police officer, that she was focused on the person she believed was the attacker –
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Police and prosecutors saw it differently. An Atlanta Police Department statement said Peterson “rushed toward the commotion and immediately started screaming” at the guard and officer, then pushed the officer twice –
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. A preliminary police report noted Peterson appeared to be under the influence at the time –
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. The initial charges — simple battery against an officer and felony obstruction — reflected the department’s view that the contact was an assault, not an accident –
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The gap between those two narratives — deliberate interference versus a distracted bystander trying to help — would take nearly two years and a jury to resolve.
A judgeship lost, then a criminal case won
The legal consequences arrived on parallel tracks, and they did not move at the same speed.
On June 25, 2024 — just five days after the nightclub arrest — the Georgia Supreme Court ordered Peterson removed from her position as Douglas County probate judge –
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. The ruling came in a separate judicial-misconduct case that had been building for years. The state’s Judicial Qualifications Commission had accused her of a pattern of misconduct: mishandling a criminal contempt matter, engaging in unauthorized ex parte communications, failing to provide due process protections, and improper use of court resources, among other violations –
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. The court found that 28 of 30 counts against her were proven by clear and convincing evidence, and that removal was warranted for 20 of them –
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. The order barred her from holding any judicial office in Georgia for seven years-
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Then the criminal case took a turn that few expected. In November 2025, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis dropped the felony obstruction charge and the misdemeanor battery charge “for want of prosecution,” leaving only one misdemeanor count of willful obstruction –
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. Peterson, who had graduated from the University of Georgia School of Law, chose to represent herself at trial –
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The trial lasted two days. The jury deliberated for less than an hour. When the verdict came back — not guilty — Peterson became emotional in the courtroom –
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. “I’m just glad someone got to look at the facts,” she told reporters afterward –
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She also filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit against the City of Atlanta and the arresting officer, seeking damages she believed would exceed $50 million for physical injury, emotional distress, loss of liberty, and reputational harm –
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. In the complaint, she alleged she was “violently slammed head-first to the ground” and subjected to compressive force on her neck and back while she was “non-resisting and compliant” –
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. The city declined to comment on the pending litigation –
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Important note: The arrest and the judicial-misconduct removal are separate legal matters; the Georgia Supreme Court’s decision to remove Peterson from the bench was based on ethics violations, not on the nightclub incident –
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Core questions still unanswered
What did the officer perceive in the seconds before the physical contact — and does the body camera footage fully capture what Peterson saw and believed in that moment?
How will a jury weigh Peterson’s account of being a Good Samaritan against the police department’s characterization of her actions as interference and assault?
What does the outcome of the criminal case mean for the pending $50 million civil-rights lawsuit against the City of Atlanta and the arresting officer?
Incident parameter Logged / on-scene information
Date and time of arrest June 20, 2024, shortly after 3 a.m. –
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Location Red Martini Restaurant and Lounge, Buckhead, Atlanta –
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Initial charges Simple battery against an officer; felony obstruction –
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Final charge faced Misdemeanor willful obstruction of law enforcement –
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Verdict Not guilty, February 2026 –
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Civil lawsuit filed January 2026, seeking damages exceeding $50 million –
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Judicial removal Georgia Supreme Court order, June 25, 2024; 7-year ban on judicial office –
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The story of Christina Peterson is, in some ways, two stories that refuse to stay separate. One is a late-night moment outside a nightclub that lasted only minutes but was recorded from multiple angles and replayed endlessly online. The other is a judicial career that had been under scrutiny for years before that night ever happened. The video made her a viral figure; the ethics ruling made her a former judge. The acquittal closed one chapter, but the lawsuit and the questions it raises are still open.
What does the body camera footage — and the split between what officers saw and what a jury ultimately believed — say about how quickly a moment of intervention can become a legal battle?
This story was edited from a publicly posted video; some details may not be independently verified.
According to multiple published reports and court records from Atlanta and Fulton County.
