Domestic violence not the very image of West Virginia

This is no mere case of the appearance of impropriety or a conflict of interest.
This is the appearance of a case of domestic battery.
Yes, this domestic battery charge against the state’s Division of Natural Resources Secretary Stephen McDaniel is being dismissed.
However, it’s apparent that this incident in Florida  not only tarnishes the image of the Justice administration, but West Virginia’s.
As one legislator succinctly put it, “We cannot let domestic violence be the face of our state.”
That delegate and seven others, including Evan Hansen and Danielle Walker, both D-Monongalia, recently signed off on a letter urging the governor to dismiss McDaniel. The governor can add this newspaper to that letter’s call for the DNR chief’s resignation, too.
We are aware that this case is clearly not of the open and shut variety for prosecution.
However, if we are to believe any part of the arresting officer’s report, it’s obvious what occurred was more than just heated words in a domestic dispute.
As a rule,  prosecutors and law enforcement do not drop cases because the alleged victim recants or doesn’t want to prosecute. However, at the very same time there  is no evidence  the alleged victim is being charged with falsely reporting a domestic battery, either.
Though that prosecutor’s office might decide not to pursue that charge later, too, it at least publicly rids that Florida county’s prosecutor from suspicion. Not to mention, it helps to reassure the public this case was resolved in the best interest of all parties.
Instead, we’re left to simply trust justice was blind in this public official’s case, while being blind-sided by its outcome.
We do agree with the governor’s general counsel, who advised him not to fire McDaniel, “there is more to this than just what was printed in the officer’s complaint.”
Issues of infidelity, drinking, disputes and battery are all alleged in this arrest report, including physical restraint and more. Our premise here is not to play judge and jury and discern the facts from the allegations in this case.
However, for a state where domestic violence is about as common as pick-up trucks, even the appearance of it involving a state official is disturbing. Daily, aside from vehicle accidents, domestic disputes are the most common complaint law enforcement responds to in our region.
Many such incidents are resolved on the scene or adjudicated with little to no notoriety by the public or the press.
But they are all against private citizens, whose chief  concern is their name and their case.
In this case, where a public official’s mug shot is posted for domestic battery, that reflects on our state in a poor light.