Often, only the defendant and alleged victim know the truth of what happened leading up to an arrest on domestic violence charges. By the time the police arrive, any potentially criminal activity is often over. And there may be no witnesses besides the alleged victim and accused person.
As a result, misunderstandings are not uncommon. Police in the San Diego area have a mandate to make an arrest if they have probable cause to believe domestic violence occurred. But such things are not always clear. What might appear to be clear domestic abuse at the scene could have a reasonable explanation.
Charges dropped over Christmas argument
That appears to be what happened in a domestic violence case against an Encinitas politician in which prosecutors dropped the charges before trial. A defense attorney for a former mayoral candidate of Encinitas in 2022, said that police misinterpreted an argument between Morris’ wife and daughter on Christmas Day and incorrectly arrested him. The defendant got in between them to try to break it up, and “somebody called the police,” according to the attorney. But there was no physical violence from anybody, he said.
Prosecutors said they dismissed the charge because they could not get in touch with the defendant’s wife or daughter, the only witnesses to the alleged crime. Without their cooperation, the authorities had little to no evidence of domestic assault. While many alleged victims do not cooperate with police or prosecutors for various reasons, it could be that in this case, the wife and daughter agreed that Morris was not violent and did not want him convicted.
What this story demonstrates is that getting arrested does not mean there is an air-tight case against you. Mandatory arrest rules and human error can lead to wrongful domestic violence arrests. Then you would need smart legal defense from an experienced attorney to fight the charges and avoid injustice.
