Busch is also the chief judge of Woodstock municipal court. A special prosecutor is still reviewing the police investigation to determine whether Busch, or any other adult, will face any charges from their actions that night.
As for why she represented this teenager, her new defense lawyer, Jimmy Berry, said late Monday: “We don’t believe she did anything wrong. She did it, open and above board. She talked to everybody. Until she’s charged, how is it a conflict of interest?”
Berry’s law partner, Vic Reynolds, withdrew from the case Monday, citing scheduling conflicts.
In a Jan. 7 e-mail Busch sent to Assistant Solicitor John Summers, she wrote: “Have something to run by you — MIP, on a citation, first ever arrest, kid is on baseball scholarship to Rice in Houston… Anyway, I am writing to ask whether you would consider some alternative diversion program … and in exchange for the 40 hours cs (community service), accept proof that by his court date of February 11, he will have completed some 150 hours, conservatively, of baseball, for Rice, which is a not for profit University.”
Summers — whose office at that time did not yet have the police report and was unaware that the teenager had been cited at Busch’s house — responded by email that, “I’m fairly certain Judge Campbell won’t go along with it. 150 hours of Baseball in exchange for the normal stuff won’t cut it with her.”
Busch then said she would speak directly to the judge to see what was acceptable.
Cobb Police sent the initial police report — which also notes that this teenager had an Alco sensor reading of .171 — to the solicitor general’s office about 5 p.m. on Jan. 12.
The next morning, Jan. 13, Busch and Summers were both appearing before Judge Campbell on an unrelated case, and Busch asked to discuss the teenager’s case, Summers said.
The two lawyers and the judge agreed to the teen’s diversion requirements in open-court discussion, and Campbell did, in fact, allow the 150 hours of baseball practice in lieu of the usual 40 hours of community service, Summers said.
Solicitor General Barry Morgan said Monday that, “John [Summers] had not read the report and had no way of knowing the kid was charged at her house during his meeting,” and noted that once a prosecutor and a defense lawyer make a deal, both sides are bound by it. But Morgan also said his prosecutors are no longer allowed to agree to a diversion without a police report in hand.
Morgan also said it was his understanding that the 150 hours of practice were to be completed between Jan. 13, when the judge agreed, and Feb. 11, the day the teen’s case was dismissed because he had successfully completed the diversion. The teen would have had to spend more than 37 hours per week practicing and playing with the team. Rice University is in Houston.
Busch apparently continued to represent the teenager until Feb. 11. That’s the day she signed and submitted a notice asking the court to substitute Susan M. Miller as counsel for the teen. Busch did not appear on the teen’s behalf that day, though under her signature is the phrase “attorney for defendant.”
About 3 a.m. on Dec. 22, Cobb Police, responding to a report of gunshots in the area, discovered a teenage drinking party at Busch’s home in the exclusive Marietta Country Club neighborhood. Four teenagers over age 17 and six juveniles were given citations for underage drinking.
The cases against the four teens over 17 are handled in Cobb State Court. Two of the four have completed the diversion program, which is a pre-trial intervention in which first-time offenders may have the citation dismissed if they perform community service and meet other obligations, and stay out of trouble.
Completing the diversion is not equal to a conviction, and Morgan said he believes an offender would have to acknowledge the citation if a college or employer asked whether an individual had ever been cited for a misdemeanor.
Morgan’s office usually prosecutes misdemeanor offenses, such as minors in possession of alcohol. But Morgan said he recused his office in this case and asked for an outside prosecutor because one of his assistant solicitors attended the Christmas party at the home earlier in the evening and could be called as a witness.
When police arrived on Dec. 22, they asked the teens to summon an adult, and Kathryn Middleton, a friend of Busch’s then appeared with a beer in her hand, according to the police report. Middleton then woke Busch, who was asleep upstairs, according to the police report.
The police report notes that when Busch came downstairs to talk to the officers, she appeared to be intoxicated and “said something to the effect ‘I would rather have the kids drinking at my house than out driving around,’ and ‘I gave the kids the alcohol.’”
Said Berry: “I don’t think they can prove that she has done anything unlawful. If anybody else had been in the same situation, it would not have gotten the publicity it has gotten. I understand its newsworthy because she’s a judge, but she’s a person first.”
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Nothing like class envy.
Ask the State Bar of Georgia to give you the history on Diane Busch.
Perhaps the NCAA should look into how often Rice University is forcing their team to practice?
The student in question about the baseball scholarship is attending Rice University, not Walker. Yes, the community service exchange for baseball practice is a ridiculous joke, but it had nothing to do with the school.