PD Editorial: Efren Carrillo should step down

Since he appeared on the political scene seeking to represent the 5th District on the Board of Supervisors in 2008, this newspaper has supported Efren Carrillo. We recommended him among the seven candidates in that race,and we endorsed him again when he ran for re-election in 2012, praising him as having "served with distinction."

Our support -- and our patience -- has run out.

As with manyreaders who have shared their views on these pages, we were dismayed following his arrest in July after attempting an unwanted early-morning rendezvous with a neighbor he barely knew.

All the same, he deserved his day in court. He has now had that -- five days to be exact, including three of testimony and two turbulent days of jury deliberations. When all was said and done, the jury came back Monday deadlocked on a "peeking" charge and with a not-guilty verdict on "attempted peeking."

Despite this muddled conclusion, the trial succeeded in shedding some important, albeit unflattering, light on Carrillo's character and integrity. And based on the evidence presented and his own testimony about what happened on July 13, we believe Carrillo is guilty of such reprehensible and tawdry conduct as to undermine his credibility and effectiveness as a public official. It's time for him to step down.

The list of poor decisions on Carrillo's part is long and well-documented:

* Deciding at 3:30 a.m. to visit a woman neighbor he did not know well in hopes, by his own admission, of having sex. This came after being dropped off at home by his girlfriend after a night of bar-hopping.

* Trying to get the woman's attention by going through a side gate to a back window, then tearing a window screen, an action that awakened the woman, who called 911 -- twice.

* And, of course, doing all of this clad only in boxer shorts and socks.

Carrillo attempted to blame his conduct on a problem with binge drinking, checking himself into an alcohol treatment facility for five weeks following his arrest. But given the testimony of the police officers who arrested him and the level of detail he was able to recall, he failed to persuade us that this was just a drunken prank. The arresting officer testified that Carrillo didn't appear to be drunk, which is why he wasn't given a field sobriety test. "Wasn't even close," the officer said.

The public also learned last week that this wasn't the first time that Carrillo had come over uninvited. The victim, identified in court as Jane Doe, testified that Carrillo appeared in her backyard with a bottle of wine to welcome her to the neighborhood. She said he walked through her open garage, knocked on a sliding glass door and tried to hug and kiss her. Given that she was wearing just a towel or robe at the time, she said it left her feeling uncomfortable. Understandable.

We don't call for Carrillo's resignation lightly. If he were up for re-election this year, we might suggest leaving it to voters to decide whether he should remain in office. But given that his term isn't up for another two-plus years, we don't see how he can effectively represent his district and the county given the evidence presented at his trial.

Making matter worse, this wasn't his first run-in with the law. Just 11 months before the underwear incident, Carrillo was arrested after an early-morning fight outside a San Diego bar. While the charges in that case were eventually dropped and the details of what happened remain fuzzy, that should have served as the warning Carrillo needed to mature. That didn't happen.

A jury on Monday found Carrillo not guilty of a criminal charge. But as an elected representative of the public, he needs to hold himself to a higher standard than that. Out of respect for the office and the voters of the county, Carrillo should resign.