San Francisco Sheriff, Ross Mirkarimi, under increasing pressure to step down, will appear in court Thursday afternoon for a hearing on a judge's order to stay away from his wife and their 2-year-old son.
Mirkarimi, is preparing to stand trial on domestic abuse charges in February. He has been charged with battery on his wife, Eliana Lopez, former Venezuelan telenovela star Eliana Lopez, during a New Year's Eve incident, after a neighbor reported to police that Lopez confided in her that her husband had grabbed her and causes her to suffer some bruising during a verbal altercation in their home.
Mirkarimi wife denies any abuse took place and Mirkarimi insists this is all a ploy to force him to leave his position. Mirkarimi was only sworn in to his position as sheriff in early January and his campaign met with resistance from both the police union and the city's association of sheriffs.
Two further developments: 1) Mirkarimi has replaced his lawyer without any explanation. According to the fired attorney Robert Waggener, Mirkarimi has retained Lidia Stiglich, a Berkeley defense attorney.
Also, Christina Flores, a local cable access host who used to date Mirkarimi before he met his wife, has come forward claiming that he shoved her into a wall in an incident that took place three years ago. She went to police with the story after reading of the current charges being brought against him in court.
Although police say she told them that was the only time he was violent with her, she also told them of many other occasions in which Mirkarimi lost his temper and abused her verbally. While charges are not able to be added to the current case due to the passing of the statute of limitations, certainly the testimony of Flores might have a negative impact on how the jury perceives Mirkarimi.
Mirkarimi continues to profess his innocence and has gone on record as saying he will not resign or take a leave of absence from his job at this time. Mayor Ed Lee does have the authority to remove Mirkarimi from his position, but has not yet decided to remove his from his duties.
Because the sheriff is charged with, among his many duties, the arbitration of allegation of the on-the-job misconduct of employees, Mirkarimi's judgment might come into question as a result of his involvement in this current criminal proceeding.
Certainly any hearing that Mirkarimi does rule on might come into question should he ultimately be found guilty of the charges of domestic abuse and might subject the city to potential legal action. That fear might end up being the impetus for Mayor Lee to remove Mirkarimi from his position until the matter is resolved in court.
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