NASCAR driver Kurt Busch is scheduled to appear at Kent County Family Court on Tuesday for a hearing related to a protective order filed by his ex-girlfriend, who last month alleged that Busch had ‘smashed’ her head three times against a bedroom wall in their motor coach following a September race in Dover. Busch will be present at the courthouse, said Dover attorney James Liguori, who is part of Busch’s legal team. Busch has to report to the court at 9:00am/et and will be among eleven other hearings at the court on Tuesday, he said. A previously scheduled hearing was postponed earlier this month because Busch was out of the country. ‘At this point, the evidence, witness statements, etc. are being reviewed on the criminal investigation,’ [Dover police spokesman Cpl. Mark] Hoffman said in a Monday email. The investigation has been particularly difficult because of the delayed reporting of the incident and the frequent travel related to some of the witnesses, Hoffman said.(Delaware News Journal)(12-16-2014)
UPDATE: NASCAR driver Kurt Busch’s breakup with his ex-girlfriend turned into an ugly court battle Tuesday when she described Busch in testimony as unstable and struggling with alcoholism and depression. His attorneys countered, describing her as untrustworthy and ‘extremely mercenary.’ Patricia Driscoll, who is seeking a court order for Busch to stay away from her, told a family court commissioner that he had choked her and smashed her head into a wall inside his motorhome at Dover International Speedway after she drove from her Maryland home to check on him. Busch attorney Rusty Hardin suggested that whatever happened the night of Sept. 26 could have been prevented had Driscoll left when Busch told her to. ‘I am not to blame for him putting his hands on me,’ said Driscoll, at times defiant and other times sobbing, prompting Family Court commissioner David Jones to order a recess at one point so she could regain her composure.’ Defense attorneys have denied the assault allegations, which are the subject of a separate criminal investigation by Dover police. Hardin said Driscoll has not presented any evidence to suggest that Busch has ever physically threatened her. Driscoll said Busch’s representatives have repeatedly tried to contact people close to her, and that she fears for her safety. ‘I don’t know what he’s capable of doing,’ she said. Driscoll, 36, was the only witness to testify during Tuesday’s six-hour hearing. Lawyers for Driscoll and Busch declined to comment after Tuesday’s session as a stern-faced Busch left the courthouse. The hearing is set to continue Wednesday. See more details from the Associated Press.(12-17-2014)
UPDATE 2: NASCAR driver Kurt Busch took the stand during the second day of a protection order hearing in Kent County (Del.) Family Court on Wednesday, calling his ex-girlfriend’s allegations that he smashed her head into a wall a ‘fabrication.’ The testimony came as a family court commissioner prepared to decide on a protection order filed by Patricia Driscoll last month. There was no decision Wednesday and the hearing will resume Jan. 12, when Busch’s lawyer Rusty Hardin will cross-examine him. Busch, the 2004 Sprint Cup champion who has shown flashes of his temper on and off the track earning him the nickname ‘The Outlaw,’ kept a cool head as he staunchly denied Driscoll’s version of the story during an hour of direct questioning by her lawyer, Carolyn McNeice. Busch also testified he ended their four-year relationship following a race in New Hampshire, a week before the race at Dover International Speedway, where the alleged altercation occurred Sept. 26. He said the two of them had a discussion en route to Logan International Airport in Boston and in the process he had damaged a rental car. She left him stranded at the airport, he added. The two had no contact in the week leading up to the Dover race, but Driscoll said she did reach out to Busch’s mother and was concerned about his alcoholism and depression. Busch said he did not drink the night of the alleged assault and has avoided alcohol during race weekends for 15 years. That night in Dover, Busch said he had been sleeping when Driscoll arrived unannounced at his motorhome with her nine-year-old son. He says he told her repeatedly to leave, but she kept bringing her son in from another room, saying that Busch needed to tell the boy that the relationship was over. Busch said he was naked during the entire encounter, and finally put his hands on either side of Driscoll’s face. ‘I took my hands and cupped her cheeks. I looked her eye-to-eye. I said, ‘You have to leave’. I was diffusing the situation,’ he told the courtroom. ‘It needs to be described because of the fabrication we listened to yesterday,’ he later said of the details he shared in court after holding up his hands, showing how he held Driscoll’s face. Michael Doncheff, Busch’s motorhome driver and personal assistant to the couple, testified Wednesday that Driscoll had instructed him at the beginning of the year to not bring any alcohol on the bus because Busch had a problem. He was the first witness called by Busch’s attorneys. Doncheff said he believed Driscoll when she said Busch had assaulted her, but added she had also told him several stories that he thought were exaggerated. He said Busch treated him well but had a temper at times. Busch often deferred decisions to Driscoll, who Doncheff said could be ‘high maintenance.’ Doncheff said on the night of the motorhome encounter, Driscoll sent him a screenshot from her earlier text conversation with Busch. He said he thought it might be a good idea for Driscoll to drive to Dover.(Wilmington News Journal)(12-18-2014)
