U.S. District Court Judge Mark Fuller, 55, has been arrested and released on a $5,000 bond after being accused of hitting his wife, Kelli Fuller. He was arrested at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in downtown Atlanta.
The former prosecutor was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2002 and was later made chief judge from 2004 until 2011. He married Kelli Fuller, 41, after he divorced his previous wife, Lisa Boyd Fuller, in 2012.
Police say that the Fullers have accused each other of starting the fight. Kelli Fuller, 41, said that the fight ensured after she accused her husband of having an affair with a law clerk and that he responded by pulling her hair, throwing her to the ground, and then dragging and kicking her (including several times to the face). The judge insists that his wife threw a drink at him and that he grabbed her and tossed her to the ground in self-defense.
When Mrs. Fuller answered the door, police officers saw visible cuts on her mouth and forehead as well as bruises on her legs. Officers also say that the judge was found on the bed and smelling of alcohol and that they saw glass and hair on the floor as well as blood in the bathroom.
Kelli’s 17-year-old son, Hunter Gregg, told police that the couple has a volatile relationship and that “this was not the first time an incident like this had occurred.” He said that he heard his step father and mother arguing when he passed by their room.
The judge raced a misdemeanor charge punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.
Fuller is relatively young and not near retirement from the Middle District of Alabama. He was previously the subject of scathing criticism for his role in the trial of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman. Fuller, a lifelong Republican and party donor, was accused of a series of conflicts of interest. Those concerns were magnified when Fuller would not accept a hung jury despite twice being informed that the jury could not reach a verdict for Siegelman and co-Defendant Richard Scrushy, founder and former CEO of HealthSouth, on allegations of federal funds bribery. Fuller told the jurors that they could face “a lifetime job . . . as a juror” while noting that he had “a lifetime appointment” and was “a very patient person.” That lifetime job however may not be as secure as he thought.
If convicted of a misdemeanor, the judge could fight any effort of impeachment as falling below the type of conduct warranting removal from the life-time appointment to the federal bench. Private conduct can be grounds for impeachment but the removal provision has been largely confined to breaches connected to the office or crimes that would constitute serious unethical or criminal conduct. Spousal abuse is clearly quite serious but he could argue that the matter was charged as a misdemeanor and has already alleged that there were mitigating circumstances or a defense of innocence in the matter. If he pleads or is found guilty, it could come down to how the final conviction is framed in terms of the specific counts.
Source: ABC News
An adult who beats up a woman deserves to be pistol whipped. This has to be a real whipping. Twenty times in the face from all angles and then a gunshot to the balls.
davidm, Warren Farrell’s “the myth of male power” shows just how much female on male violence exists. The author had been a NOW staffer, but defected after he couldn’t tolerate the propaganda anymore. Some divorce lawyers well know his work.
Welcome back from your travels, DavidM.
Squeeky wrote: “Men and women in relationships slap and push each other around all the time.”
I have never experienced this in my 30 year marriage. I never saw my parents ever slap and push each other. Your comment makes me wonder how common this is. I thought most male-female relationships were devoid of assault and battery.
David wrote:
” I thought most male-female relationships were devoid of assault and battery.”
~+~
That is true. The majority of relationships here are violence free.
How was your vacation? I remember you writing you were planning quite a bit of travel.
Thanks Nick and Darren for the welcome back. Vacation was great. My thirteen year old daughter received her scuba certification, so we did some scuba diving together in Hawaii. We did a night dive in Hawaii with Manta Rays which was a very unique experience. We spent time in Maui, Kona, and Oahu. My daughter learned to surf at Waikiki Beach in Honolulu. Now school is starting up and it is time to get back in the routine of things. 🙂
@annie
I am saying it is going to happen, from both sides. Just the other day there was a post here about how many things get unnecessarily criminalized. I think this domestic abuse stuff is one of them. If somebody is truly hurt, there are laws against battery that are available.
Plus, if he was cheating on her with his law clerk, I think Kelli had every right to clobber him. He had it coming.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Squeeky, even if she was yelling and screaming and cussing at him, does he have the right to hit her? You’re not saying that … are you?
Roger Goodell just weighed in on this and suggests a 2 trial suspension.
@theo
If a moderator is on duty, and they see your comments, I am sure they will release them from the filter thingy. Just say something like:
Help! Comments eaten! Mayday!
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
I have to say that the moderator has refused to allow my comments on this piece to appear at this site. It is completely unfair; they were long but not uncivil, and certainly not untrue and they did reflect on not only the piece itself but some of the comments as well.
Let’s get a little more down to the real, people. Some women, without doubt many, undoubtedly do their fair share of hitting, etc., and also can instigate an argument to which the male responds. But the male is stronger (in most cases but not always) and hence the physical damage to the woman (except in actions resulting in death at the hand of a woman) is exponentially greater. Then too serial abusers (overwhelmingly but not exclusively male) need no reason for their abuse. It’s disappointing how many women have no sense of fairness toward other women. In an evolutionary sense it probably stems from the need of women for protection against other males due to pregnancy, child birth, and protection of the young. This fact has caused some feminists to fall out with one another such that they lose sight of the goal: female emancipation and self-realization. With respect to the male, his greater violence and organized murderousness and aggression in wars and other pursuits standing in for war stem from the evolutionary behavior of our ape progenitors. Women are not excluded from those influences and neither are all males supportive of this violence. In the main, violence has won out. Wrangham and Peterson’s (both males) book “Demonic Males: Apes and the Origins of Human Violence” can be easily and enjoyably read by non-scientists and I recommend it.
Back to Fuller, this is his third wife we are talking about. Fuller has a long history of spousal abuse and drug taking. On a human level I sympathize if his drug taking is so extensive to have added to his instability. He should be treated for it but taken off the bench nonetheless.
His other alleged crimes in the Siegelman case and others, are serious and extensive. For a full discussion of this case and related matters, everyone–without fail–should go to:
http://www.justice-integrity.org
where Andrew Kreig has been laying out for interested readers the facts of Fuller’s career, the Siegelman case, and the goings on of the Republican Party in Alabama* and at the national level at the instigation of Karl Rove and others (most recently in a long piece dated August 11 on the above site). These alleged crimes have been covered up by the many, including the Obama administration, and been attested to by the few, including a few Republicans and other truth tellers who have acted with decency and have tried to report the truth and been personally punished for it. It is a cesspool of corruption and self-dealing and Fuller is among those right in the middle of it.
Kreig has written a book, “Presidential Puppetry” that should be read by all those interested in the political process and the influences, some known, some known but not widely written about, others suppressed, which should be widely known and which will enable citizens to form a more realistic picture of who our politicians really are.
*Apparently Alabama has fewer African Americans than other deep south states, perhaps due to death or disappearance to whit: Alabaman whites and U.S. corporations were among the worst violators of African-American civil rights in the period after the Civil War to 1942. The story of their equally brutal enslavement by U.S. corporations and Southern whites (all Democrats at that time) is told in
“Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II” by white Mississippian Douglas A. Blackmon
and I also recommended it highly. It represents the collusion of Northern and Southern economic interests which did not envision freedom and civil rights for African Americans. Such treatment is among the many well-remembered reasons some African Americans call for financial reparations. The effects of such treatment must not be ignored when considering why African Americans as a whole have not reached the level of financial and social well-being that most whites and others have achieved in America. There are of course many other aspects of the history and treatment of African Americans that must be understood equally as well.
Theo, I retrieved your comment at 11:21.
Evict him from the federal bench and let him practice divorce law. If he beat his wife then the judge who handles this case should consider corporal punishment. Get some corporals from the state police to beat his arse. As to wifeypoo, give her a lie detector test. In Atlanta that is usually right hand on the Bible and then some questions. This has to be done during a lightning storm so that if she lies she gets struck by lightning.
It’s a hormone thing. They only get along when hormone cycles match. It’s pretty simple.
@annie
Well, can you imagine Kelli above calmly saying, “Honeybuns, you haven ‘t been seduced by Bambi, your new law clerk, have you???Because I love and cherish you sooo very much that I would swoon at the thought of you being led astray by a younger predatory woman such as she.”
I bet that she was cussing and jumping on him and carrying on to beat the band. And rightfully so.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Although he is a federal judge and a bush appointment I do not think he should be treated any differently than any other defendant. He should be required to go through spousal abuse classes, complete probation, refrain from alcohol and if successfully completes the classes and probation be granted a dismissal, if this is his first…..
Squeeky, I was married twice, no slapping or pushing. That is not a sign of a good marriage. And yes there are some idiots who do marry each other.
@annie
Men and women in relationships slap and push each other around all the time. My GUESS is women are responsible for starting most of it since we get mad easier. The law inserts the cops into all of it. Work for a divorce lawyer for a while and you see how jaded most of them and the judges are about the law. Some idiot chick swears in the morning she fears for her safety and the next day she ‘s sleeping with the dude. It ‘s a joke in most cases.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
He should most definitely not be a family court judge, are those the judges that hear abuse cases too? Assaulting someone is wrong, even if its a wife Squeekers.
It ‘s a stupid law. Men and women haves always fought and always will. Some women provoke a fight to get the upper hand in a divorce. Some women even do it for the sympathy they get. Work in domestic law for a while if you don ‘t believe me.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
So he has alcohol inside of him, she adds a bit of alcohol to his outside and that warrants having her hair pulled out and various cuts, bruises, and abrasions? Considering that the “new” wife got the bustard by having an affair with him when he was married and when she was his law clerk why would think he might be repeating himself. He should be removed from the bench but that’s not likely. He should not hear cases of spousal abuse. Guess he wouldn’t considering his court.
Rehab time.