Psychologist is expected to plead guilty in domestic violence case

Report from the Indianapolis Star

A prominent Fishers psychologist has agreed to plead guilty in a domestic violence case involving his wife, a fellow therapist, a prosecutor confirmed Friday.

Special Prosecutor Todd Meyer said David M. Buckingham, whose wife, Beth Buckingham, also is a psychologist and behavioral therapist at Buckingham & Associates, is scheduled to plead guilty March 13 in Hamilton Superior Court.

Details of the plea agreement Meyer negotiated with defense attorney Bruce Boje are expected to be filed then.

Typically, plea agreements let a defendant avoid prosecution on one or more charges. In Buckingham's case, the attorneys say, the deal would resolve two battery charges and related charges that he violated a no-contact order.

According to the five counts of invasion of privacy filed July 3, Buckingham sent five text messages to his wife after his May 29 release from jail pending trial in the battery case.

Authorities filed the charges after deciding not to pursue evidence that he had also made threatening phone calls to his wife from the jail before his release on $10,000 bond.

Buckingham, 53, initially was arrested May 26 after Beth Buckingham accused him of attacking her.

"The accused slapped her in the face with an open hand, slammed the car door on her right foot and stomped several times on her left foot," Fishers police officer Tom Weger reported.

Sgt. Gerry Hepp said the incident involved an argument and the woman's attempt to leave home for the weekend.

The couple lived in the 9800 block of Sugarleaf Place in Rosewood.

He was charged with battery resulting in serious bodily injury, a felony, and domestic battery, a misdemeanor, and ordered to avoid all contact with his wife.
The subsequent invasion of privacy charges were filed after Buckingham sent her text messages in June.

In seeking a special prosecutor from another county, Hamilton County Prosecutor Sonia Leerkamp notified the case judge that she and her administrative chief deputy are friends of the couple and worked with them professionally.