Oh No, Ed Jew!: Day One

We've been impatiently hitting refresh for news on Ed Jew's preliminary hearing all day too, Michela Alioto-Pier commenter guest[8]!

There isn't too much up yet, alas, but CBS 5 is first on the scene, reporting that two neighbors have testified in court today that Ed didn't live in their neighborhood. Sounds like it's Ed's purported "next door (San Francisco) neighbor" (.pdf), and a woman that lives four doors down (maybe this neighbor? (.pdf)). While the DA's not working with the City Attorney's investigation, it sounds like they're at least talking to the same people.

Ed's lawyer (Fazio) said both people were "barking up the wrong tree," and tried to suggest that they might have been mistaken in recalling that they'd never seen Ed or his family on their block. Ed, for his part, came in all smiling and glad-handing, leaving Fazio to go around telling everyone that while he's got a house in Burlingame, "his home is in San Francisco." Yeah, him and Tony Bennett's heart.

The preliminary hearing's scheduled to go four days (and aaaaagh! We're out of town for work for two out of four of those days!) -- and just to review, a preliminary hearing's when the judge hears a mini-version of the case and decides whether or not there's enough evidence for the case to go to a jury. The judge won't decide guilt or innocence at this point in the game.