Prosecutors: No criminal charge for NASCAR driver Kurt Busch

DOVER, Del. (AP) – NASCAR driver Kurt Busch will not face criminal charges over claims by his ex-girlfriend that he smashed her head into a bedroom wall and choked her, Delaware prosecutors said Thursday.

The decision by the state attorney general’s office ends the criminal investigation of Busch, known in NASCAR circles as “The Outlaw,” over allegations by Patricia Driscoll, whom Busch’s attorneys portrayed as a scorned woman who tried to destroy Busch’s career after he ended their relationship.

State prosecutors said there was not enough evidence to bring criminal charges.

“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,” the attorney general’s office said in a prepared statement.

A spokesman for the Dover Police Department, which investigated the incident and turned over its findings to the attorney general’s office, said the department respects the decision and would have no further comment.

NASCAR officials indefinitely suspended Busch last month after a Delaware Family Court commissioner granted Driscoll a “protection from abuse”, or no-contact, order, saying the former champion more than likely choked and beat her inside his motorhome at Dover International Speedway last fall.

Busch lost two rounds of appeals for reinstatement before the season-opening Daytona 500 and has missed the first two races of the season, but NASCAR officials said Monday that he has agreed to follow their recommended guidelines to be eligible for eventual reinstatement.

Jim Liguori, a local attorney for Busch, said the driver is thankful that he won’t face criminal charges.

“All along, he knew he was going to be exonerated,” Liguori said. “The Department of Justice really did the right thing after considered review.”

“She absolutely tried to destroy him in the press …,” Liguori added, referring to Driscoll. “But the truth wins out, and the truth is its own defense.”

Driscoll did not immediately respond to email and telephone messages seeking comment.

“We are very disappointed that AG’s office chose to not prosecute but this only makes the order for PFA that much more important,” Driscoll’s attorney, Carolyn McNeice, said in an email.

Driscoll said Busch assaulted her in September after she drove from her Maryland home to Dover to check on Busch after receiving a series of disturbing texts. Driscoll said she and Busch argued in the bedroom of the motorhome before he grabbed her by the face and neck and slammed her head against a wall three times.

But Driscoll did not file charges until early November. She testified that she feared the incident might affect an ongoing child custody battle with her ex-husband in Maryland.

Driscoll filed for a no-contact order in November, which was the subject of four days of hearings in December and January. During the Family Court hearing, Busch and others testified that Driscoll made far-fetched claims of being a covert operative for the federal government and a trained assassin.

Despite granting the no-contact order, a Family Court commissioner said Driscoll had presented false testimony that conflicted with that of a chaplain who saw her immediately after the alleged assault and said he saw no marks or bruises on her. The judge nevertheless said he didn’t believe Driscoll’s false testimony amounted to perjury or intentional falsehood.

The judge also concluded that Busch did not appear to be a prototypical batterer who uses violence to subjugate or control, but that the incident instead was most likely a “situational” event in which Busch was unable to cope and to control his tendency to act out violently in response to stress and frustration, causing him to “snap.”

Busch’s attorneys have asked the Family Court commissioner to re-open the hearing so that they can present testimony from three acquaintances of Driscoll who they say were previously reluctant to get involved but have now come forward to contradict statements Driscoll has made about her relationship with Busch.