Kurt Busch Will Not Be Charged with Domestic Abuse

In a somewhat surprising turn of events, Kurt Busch will not be tried for domestic abuse: the Delaware Department of Justice has been investigating the situation since Patricia Driscoll filed the complaint on Nov. 5. In the complaint, Driscoll alleged that Busch, in his trailer, smashed her head against the wall several times: a point he refuted by claiming she is a trained assassin.

Last month, Judge David Jones found enough evidence to award Driscoll a protective order, which stated that he must maintain a distance of 100 yards unless at a NASCAR function. Still, despite having enough evidence to issue that order, the Delaware Attorney General’s office claimed that there was not enough to try Busch for the crime.

Again, quite odd considering there was enough evidence for a judge to award a protective order: even if the defense claimed the protective order was bogus, if the judge is a partial arbitrator, then his decree should set the criminal case in motion. Still, Busch’s lawyers are appealing and claim to have evidence supporting the notion that Patricia attempted to destroy Kurt’s career.

In a statement released by Delaware Department of Justice’s office, they explained why charges are not being pursued: “After a thorough consideration of all of the available information about the case, it is determined that the admissible evidence and available witnesses would likely be insufficient to meet the burden of establishing beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Busch committed a crime during the September 26th incident. Likelihood of meeting that high burden of proof is the standard for prosecutors in bringing a case. For this reason, the Department of Justice will not pursue criminal charges in this case.”

The district attorney, Carolyn McNeice, released her own personal statement on the matter: “Patricia and I are very disappointed that Kurt will not be prosecuted for the abusive acts he committed in September. The AG’s decision, however, only makes the order that we received for protection from abuse that much more important. As you can see, in some cases, this is the only protection the victim will get. This civil no contact order is a critical tool for protecting victims.”

Even with this good news for the defense, Busch still has to get reinstated by NASCAR: while they have not disclosed the specific guidelines to his reinstatement, the 2004 champion has agreed to meet all of them. So do not expect him to be racing anytime soon.