Court Denies Busch Appeal, Maintains Act Of Abuse Took Place

Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports

The saga between Kurt Busch and Patricia Driscoll was mostly over after it was announced that no criminal charges would be brought against Busch. In the aftermath of that decision there has been the issue of the order of protection which was placed against Busch by a family court judge. The judge heard both sides of the night in question from both Busch and Driscoll before granting the order after he decided it was “more than likely” that Busch committed an act of domestic violence.

More from NASCAR

Earlier this week the ruling on the appeal of that decision to grant the order of protection was denied. Judge William J. Walls Jr. denied the appeal which in turn upheld the decision made by family court Commissioner David Jones. The denial of the appeal means that Busch and Driscoll have only appeared in open court once to discuss this matter and that court came to the conclusion that Busch did indeed commit an act of domestic violence.

Walls Jr. wrote about why the court did not grant the appeal.

"The Court finds that the preponderance of the evidence in the Commissioner’s record warrants the entry of a protective order. By his own testimony, Busch intentionally chose to confront Driscoll in a cramped space between his bed and a wall when Busch could have easily entered his bed from the opposite side and avoided any confrontation.Busch acknowledged that he then placed his hands on Driscoll’s face and that his actions caused Driscoll’s head to hit the wall behind her head. Even ignoring any evidence Busch strangled Driscoll, and accepting the bulk of Busch’s testimony, Busch’s actions constituted an act of abuse."

While the biggest concern of this case initially was the legal ramifications, the order of protection was still important to the Busch camp. With the possibility of charges being pressed gone, the order of protection was important because if it was removed it would have cleared Busch 100 percent of any wrong-doing. With the order still in place it shows that multiple judges have now heard or looked over the evidence presented and drawn the same conclusion; that being that Busch did indeed commit an act of domestic violence.

One of Driscoll’s lawyers, Mike Dycio took a shot at NASCAR following the ruling via Bob Pockrass of ESPN.

"Given the denial of Mr. Busch’s appeal, we are left wondering why NASCAR was so quick to abandon its path of following other professional sports policies of zero tolerance of domestic violence. NASCAR had an opportunity to move its organization to the forefront of this issue and create the standard by which athletes would be held accountable for their actions in domestic violence cases. They did not.The simple fact is that the only court that heard evidence in this case ruled in support of Ms. Driscoll’s accounts of the evening leading to the issuance of a protective order."

Does the denial of the appeal change the way that you see the case? Does the fact that Busch and Driscoll only spoke in open court once and this is the ruling that was made and upheld lead you to believe that something more might have happened that night than you might have originally thought? Or does Driscoll’s history that Busch pointed out in court as well as the recent allegations made against her about stealing from her charity prove her not to be credible or believable? Be sure to share your opinion by commenting below.

Home/NASCAR