Three charges of domestic violence filed against a former candidate for mayor of Encinitas have been dropped.

Jeff Morris had pleaded not guilty when originally charged. When reaching out to him for comment, Morris didn’t want to talk about the case, now saying, “The real Encinitas story isn’t the issues that my wife and daughter have with each other two months after the election was over.”

The charges were dismissed April 10.

Both his wife and daughter were part of a domestic violence case filed against the former candidate. Morris suggested that the “arrogant elites” had ganged up on him because “I am by far the most talked about person in Encinitas,” and “I’m nobody but an ex-homeless surfer who ran for mayor, lost, and got slandered and defamed by the Encinitas Illuminati.”

It should be noted that the charges against Morris were not dropped because a court ruled in his favor over the alleged charges that he used force, inflicted corporal injury and engaged in false imprisonment during a Christmas Eve argument. They were dismissed because his wife and daughter could not be found by representatives of the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office attempting to serve them to appear in court at the trial.

“Despite extensive efforts to locate and personally serve the victim and witnesses, we have been unable to do so,” stated Tanya Sierra, a public information officer with the District Attorney’s Office. “This case cannot be proven without those witnesses.”

Attorney Peter Nueharth, who represented Morris, declined to comment. However, in other media reports, he did say he was relieved that his client was through with the ordeal.

J.W. August is a longtime San Diego broadcast and digital journalist.

Letters to the editor are welcome. Send letters to www.northcoastcurrent.com/letters/.