Sonoma County Supervisor Efren Carrillo seeks to reveal name of accuser in $2.5 million lawsuit

Supervisor Efren Carrillo is seeking to unmask a former neighbor who is suing him for $2.5 million over a predawn incident two years ago in which he appeared half-naked outside her apartment in what she believes was an attempted sexual assault.

Lawyers for the 5th District supervisor said the anonymous complaint filed earlier this year by the woman, identified only as Jane Doe, deprives the public of access to court records while violating state laws requiring people in lawsuits to be named if they are seeking damages.

“A complaint must be brought by the person possessing the claim,” Carrillo’s lawyers said in legal papers.

Also, the attorneys said the woman failed to prove Carrillo intended to harm her and said her contention that she suffered emotional trauma is unsupported by facts.

The 34-year-old Democrat was acquitted last year of misdemeanor peeking charges following a three-day trial in which he testified he hoped to have consensual sex with her.

A hearing set for today, when Carrillo’s lawyers were scheduled to present their arguments to identify the woman and dismiss parts of the case, was postponed to Sept. 16, in part to allow time for a possible settlement.

The woman’s lawyer, Rachael Erickson, accused Carrillo of trying to pressure her client to reach a favorable agreement. She maintained the woman is entitled to privacy and could not be compelled by the court to identify herself. Doing so could damage her career and expose her to public humiliation, Erickson said.

“She’s suffered enough,” Erickson said. “She doesn’t need people to pass judgment on her.”

Also, Erickson argued Carrillo’s own testimony proves he intended to have sex with the woman. Evidence suggesting Carrillo ripped a screen when he knocked on her bedroom window proves it wasn’t consensual, she said.

“If you break into a lady’s bedroom window at 3:30 in the morning, that’s assault,” Erickson said.

She said the two sides have been assigned a mediator but have not started to talk. The terms of any settlement could become confidential, she said.

Carrillo did not return a call Tuesday seeking comment. His lawyer, Kenneth Simoncini, also did not return a call.

The two-term supervisor was arrested July 13, 2013, after the neighbor he barely knew called 911 to report a man dressed in only his socks and underwear outside her apartment. She said she was jarred awake by the sound of crashing window blinds and armed herself with a kitchen knife as the man knocked on her front door.

Carrillo was stopped by police as he walked back to his own apartment. He was booked into the Sonoma County Jail when he could not explain what he was doing.

Months later, amid calls for Carrillo to resign, a state prosecutor charged the supervisor with peeking into the woman’s door or window, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail.

In emotional trial testimony, Carrillo admitted he had a drinking problem and sought the woman in a mistaken belief that she was interested in him.

Jurors deadlocked on the main count and acquitted Carrillo on a lesser charge of attempted peeking.

The woman, who also testified at trial under the name Jane Doe, filed a civil lawsuit in March seeking $2 million in general damages and $500,000 in punitive damages.

You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 568-5312 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ppayne.