Suspended Sprint Cup driver Kurt Busch will not be facing charges from the September incident with ex-girlfriend Patricia Driscoll.
The Delware Department of Justice announced Thursday there was insufficient evidence to charge Busch with a crime. Driscoll had accused Busch of domestic assault on Sept. 26, saying he slammed her head against the wall of his motorhome. Busch had denied the accusations.
The statement:
The Delaware Department of Justice has carefully reviewed the complaint made of an alleged act of domestic violence involving Kurt Busch in Dover on September 26, 2014, which was reported to the Dover Police Department on November 5, 2014 and investigated.
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.
Busch was suspended by NASCAR on Friday, Feb. 20 before the Daytona 500 following the release of a Kent County commissioner’s decision in the request for protection order hearing surrounding the incident. In the decision, which was written after the protection order had been granted for Driscoll against Busch, the commissioner said it was more likely than not that Busch had committed an act of abuse against Driscoll.
The 2004 Sprint Cup Series champion immediately appealed NASCAR’s suspension but lost both appeals.
Earlier this week, NASCAR said Busch had agreed to terms to start the process of reinstatement into the sport. However, no timetable would be given on the process. In it, Busch would work with an outside expert who would report back to NASCAR.
The suspension is Busch’s second NASCAR-mandated suspension. He was suspended for a race in 2013 after making threatening remarks to a reporter.
The testimony during the protection order hearing, which was held over multiple days in December and January, was contentious. Busch contended that Driscoll had told him she was a trained assassin and his legal team said Driscoll committed perjury while Driscoll said Busch struggled with alcoholism and depression and had issues separating fact from fiction.
