Today's update regarding the plight of embattled sheriff Ross Mirkarimi is that a judge has reversed an earlier decision and is allowing Mirkarimi back in his own house this week. He had been barred from going home, by court order, since January, but now that wife Eliana Lopez and their young son are in Venezuela until the end of the month, Mirkarimi can return to their Western Addition home with one caveat: stay away from the neighbors.

As we know, Mirkarimi has some reason to be upset with neighbor Ivory Madison, who videotaped Lopez on New Year's Eve showing a bruise on her arm, ostensibly for use in a potential custody fight. Madison went to police without Lopez's knowledge, and subsequently four other neighbors in the building were to be called as witnesses in the domestic abuse trial that did not happen.

Lopez herself expressed her feelings toward Madison via a friend's editorial in the Guardian last week. Chuck Nevius subsequently responded to Lopez's and friend Myrna Melgar's complaints, saying that the anger toward Madison was misdirected. Though Nevius just a few weeks ago was calling for everyone to chill out and leave Mirkarimi alone, he's now got tougher words for Lopez. "Tough luck. Bruises often lead to battering, and too often battering leads to death. Stepping away and letting two people involved in domestic violence work things out isn't a solution. It's ignoring the problem."

Lopez is due back in town on April 28, at which point Mirkarimi will once again have to sleep on former mayor Art Agnos' couch for a while. Official misconduct proceedings against Mirkarimi are set to begin this month, and he remains suspended from his job.

[Chron]