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Morgan Hill City Councilman Larry Carr was convicted of a misdemeanor domestic battery in 2015—a prior crime that could have an impact on the prosecution of a similar charge filed by authorities last week.
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Court records also show that Carr was convicted of driving under the influence, resulting in bodily injury, in relation to a 1993 vehicle accident in Morgan Hill. Carr was 24 at the time of the accident, according to Morgan Hill Times archives.
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For the 2015 battery conviction, Carr received no fine, probation or jail time but completed a 16-week domestic violence counseling program. The court ultimately agreed to clear his record of that crime.
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For the DUI conviction, also a misdemeanor, he was sentenced to 60 days in jail, but did not serve the time because the sentence was stayed, according to court records.
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Carr is set for arraignment Jan. 26, 2018 on the current charge of battery on a cohabitant, again a misdemeanor (the offense can be charged as a misdemeanor or felony, according to state law). This charge was filed after a Nov. 25, 2017 incident in which he allegedly threatened and used physical force against his girlfriend, with whom he lives in downtown Morgan Hill, according to authorities.
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Carr, 48, insisted Dec. 5 he is innocent of the accusations against him in both the 2017 and 2015 cases. His attorney said he pleaded no contest in 2015 in order to avoid prolonged court proceedings.
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“That (2015) matter was ultimately dismissed…and I believe that’s going to be the outcome again,” Carr said in an interview on Tuesday, Dec. 5. “I maintain my innocence.”
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In the 2015 case, Carr and his attorney successfully petitioned the judge in May 2017 to clear his record of that conviction.
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The judge’s order, signed May 25, notes that Carr’s plea of no contest to battery of a cohabitant is “set aside” and a plea of not guilty entered instead. However, according to the order, he must still disclose the crime to any state or local public agencies he might try to seek employment with.
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Santa Clara County Supervising Deputy District Attorney Vishal Bathija said prosecutors can cite the 2015 crime as a prior conviction when arguing the current charge—a factor that could result in a harsher sentence than last time. The maximum penalty for battery on a cohabitant is a $2,000 fine or one year in jail, or both.
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In Carr’s 2015 case, the court and prosecutors were satisfied with his voluntary completion of a 16-week domestic violence counseling program in place of jail or a fine. Bathija said it is “not unusual” for first-time domestic violence offenders to gain such a conclusion to their cases.
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“We evaluate cases on, what does a person need (for us) to protect the victim, and to protect the community,” Bathija said.
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Bathija added that defendants that satisfy the terms of their criminal convictions and sentences can “ask the court to withdraw their plea” as Carr did in relation to the 2015 case.
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MHPD investigation
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The previous battery case stemmed from a March 23, 2015 incident in which Morgan Hill Police responded to Carr and his girlfriend’s former home on Crest Avenue. The victim is the same woman in both the 2015 and 2017 cases.
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In 2015, Carr’s girlfriend reported the domestic violence late at night at the Morgan Hill Police station, according to police reports contained in the 2015 court file obtained by the Times. In the reports, she told police the two had been arguing verbally at home. She said that at one point, she turned around to walk down the hallway toward the bedroom and Carr pushed her on her upper shoulder and back with both hands, according to the reports.
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The push caused her to fall to the floor, according to the police reports in the court file. As she was getting up, Carr allegedly picked up a lamp and threw it, resulting in damage. He also broke a television in the bedroom. The two then struggled over the victim’s purse as she was trying to leave the home, resulting in damage to the purse.
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The victim complained of pain to her knee and neck, and officers took photos of bruises on her arm and knees, and scratches on her hand, the 2015 court file says.
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The victim also told police that Carr told her that the police chief would “side with him” if she reported the incident, the police reports say.
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During interviews with police, the woman also reported a previous alleged domestic violence incident by Carr in February 2015. She said that incident also occurred during a verbal argument, when she retreated to the bedroom and shut the door. She told police that Carr “forced” open the door, which hit her on the forehead resulting in a cut.
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The woman received medical treatment at a nearby hospital for the injury, according to the police reports.
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In Carr’s statements to the police following the March 23, 2015 incident, he denied pushing his girlfriend, and said he had never tried to physically attack or hurt her. “I didn’t put my hands on her,” he told police.
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When asked about the February 2015 incident, Carr told police it was an accident, according to the court file.
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After the investigation, MHPD issued a warrant for Carr’s arrest on suspicion of battery on a cohabitant, vandalism and dissuading a victim or witness. He turned himself in at the police station on March 27, 2015.
Attorney: Carr innocent
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Carr’s attorney, Stuart Kirchick, said Carr’s plea of no contest in the 2015 battery case was the result of a plea bargain in which the other two charges were dropped.
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“Larry and I felt it was in his best interest to accept a plea bargain to which he pled no contest, to avoid a trial (and) to avoid the risks associated with a trial,” Kirchick said Dec. 5. He added that Carr pleaded no contest “not because he was guilty, but because he didn’t want to contest it.”
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A plea of no contest is “legally, technically a conviction,” Kirchick noted, and Carr wanted the court to dismiss the no contest plea because he was “uncomfortable with having a conviction for something he believed he was innocent of,” Kirchick said.
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Carr’s attorney also said he is innocent of the charge filed last week.
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“He is presumed innocent under the law, and we really hope the public allows the justice system to take its course,” Kirchick said.
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The current domestic battery charge stems from a call to police the night of Nov. 25, 2017. Carr’s girlfriend reported he threatened her, pulled her hair and broke her glasses, according to police reports. She called police to report the incident about 6:20pm.
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Carr’s ex-wife, Kirsten Carr—the mother of his two teenage children—doesn’t believe the charges against the councilman. The two were a couple for 11 years and married for seven years, and have remained friends since their divorce in 2005, Kirsten Carr said. In all the time she has known him, he has never acted violently toward her or their children, she added.
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She said the recent accusation against Larry Carr “goes against everything I know of him as a person. That is not Larry, and I have known (him) since I was 24 years old.”
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Bathija said the court file, which is likely to contain more details about the allegations, will not be available until a few days before his arraignment.
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Although a state government code disqualifies a person from holding office upon conviction of “designated crimes,” Morgan Hill City Attorney Don Larkin said battery is not such a crime. He said this means that such a conviction by itself would not prohibit someone from holding public office, though Larkin did not address Carr’s case specifically.
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DUI accident
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Far fewer details are available of the 1993 DUI accident for which Carr was convicted of a misdemeanor. The court file has been permanently removed from local records in accordance with state law, according to courthouse authorities.
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A Morgan Hill Times article from Aug. 17, 1993, reported that Carr was driving a Mazda RX7 early in the morning Aug. 13 on Hale Avenue near Via Loma. A California Highway Patrol spokesperson said Carr was driving south, when his vehicle crossed into the northbound lanes, striking a Toyota head-on.
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The accident resulted in numerous broken bones and other injuries to the driver and passenger of the Toyota, according to the Times report. Carr suffered numerous cuts and bruises. All three were flown to a nearby hospital.
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Carr was arrested at the scene on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol, the Times report said.
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Santa Clara County Superior Court’s case management system shows that Carr was initially charged with two felony counts of DUI resulting in bodily injury. But one of these was dismissed, and the other was reduced to a misdemeanor for which Carr was convicted.
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In addition to the suspended jail sentence, Carr was sentenced to three years’ probation and ordered to pay a $400 fine, according to information provided by Superior Court spokesman Benjamin Rada.
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“Yes, I have a DUI on my record from my early 20s, when I was a kid,” Carr said this week when asked about the crime. “I made a mistake.”
