Day 2 of the Efren Carrillo peeping trial in Sonoma County Superior Court wrapped up a little after 4 pm today without the widely anticipated appearance of Carrillo himself on the witness stand. It’s a wide-open question as to whether he’ll do so on Day 3. Judge Gary A. Medvigy will reconvene the proceedings Thursday at 10:30, and it’s expected that the defense will wrap up its case in fairly short order, based on housecleaning chatter between opposing lawyers and Medvigy after the jury was excused for the day. The afternoon featured testimony from Santa Rosa Police Department officers and technicians who were involved in the Feb. 2013 arrest of Carrillo, a Sonoma County Supervisor who is charged with a single misdemeanor count of peeping after showing up at a neighbor’s house, drunk, nearly naked, and carrying a couple of bottles of Pliny the Elder. During their questioning of the police, the defense appeared to be attempting to impugn the integrity of the neighbor, identified only as Jane Doe, by highlighting that this was not the first time Carrillo and she had interacted — he’d already shown up at her door once before, with a bottle of wine. Carrillo’s attorneys highlighted that Jane Doe told police she was wrapped in what one officer said was a “towel thing” when she answered the door, only to find Carrillo with some wine. He hugged her and tried to kiss her, she claimed. Said one officer: “She felt that it was an uncomfortable meeting.” Yet there appeared to be some inconsistency insofar as what Jane Doe was actually wearing, which the defense highlighted. Another officer interviewed Jane Doe later in the investigation and told the court she was wearing “jeans skirt and a tank top” that day. Whatever she was wearing, Jane Doe told the police she was “grossed out and disgusted” by his visit — it was “weird and creepy.” Judge Medvigy told the lawyers that he’d prepared jury instructions based on the testimony offered so far, but that he would amend them if Carrillo in fact takes the stand tomorrow. Defense lawyers said they were considering calling another witness who would provide photographs taken at Carrillo’s apartment that showed, essentially, that Carrillo was a bachelor-victim: The photos depicted half-empty booze bottles and lots of garbage. Medvigy was a little perplexed at the possible move, or, in his word, “surprised,” that the defense would offer the photos. But the basic thrust of the defense appears to be that that Carrillo had an alcohol problem and Jane Doe may have answered the door in a towel-thing on another occasion. Without coming right out and saying as much (wise move, given that the jury is made up of 10 women and 2 men), there was an unsavory whiff of “she asked for it” in the courtroom air this afternoon.
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