Morgan Hill City Councilman Larry Carr pleaded not guilty to domestic battery Feb.16 at the South County Courthouse.
Superior Court Judge Jacqueline Duong issued Carr, 49, a one-year “peaceful contact order” that regulates the contact he can have with the alleged victim in the misdemeanor case.
Carr is charged with domestic battery in relation to a Nov. 25, 2017 incident involving his girlfriend of 11 years, with whom he shared a home in downtown Morgan Hill at the time.
Morgan Hill Police responded to the couple’s residence that evening, and arrested Carr after taking statements from him and his girlfriend. The woman had told police, during a lengthy verbal argument, that Carr “ripped the glasses from her face and threw them to the ground, causing them to break,” and pulled her hair in the process, according to the police report of the investigation.
Carr told police at the time that any contact he made with his girlfriend during the argument was accidental. He has continued to deny the allegations since his arrest.
The victim did not exhibit any injuries or indicate a complaint of pain, according to police.
Carr’s next hearing on the domestic battery charge is scheduled for a March 19 pre-trial conference.
Carr declined to comment on the case after the Feb. 16 hearing.
Carr’s attorney Stuart Kirchick clarified that Carr and the alleged victim do not live together now. He added that the alleged victim requested the peaceful contact order, and DA’s office prosecutors agreed it was appropriate in this case.
According to the Santa Clara Superior Court website, a peaceful contact order is a type of “criminal protective order” that “permit(s) contact between a defendant and the Protected Person, but only if that contact is peaceful in every way.” The judge may modify such orders to address specific conditions or issues that pertain to an individual case.
Carr—who is currently serving in his fifth term as a Morgan Hill councilmember—was convicted of a similar misdemeanor charge in 2015, in relation to an incident at the couple’s previous home March 23. Carr pleaded no contest to domestic battery and completed a 16-week counseling program. The court later dismissed the charge from his record, at Carr’s formal request. Carr has also denied acting violently in that incident, and he pleaded no contest to avoid prolonged court proceedings.
If Carr is convicted of the 2017 charge, the court can consider the 2015 conviction as a prior offense in his sentencing, according to authorities.
