Though she's in exile (or, from another perspective, back home) in Venezuela, Eliana Lopez is still fighting, through her attorney, to keep Mayor Ed Lee from using the video she and neighbor Ivory Madison made on New Year's Day against her husband, Ross Mirkarimi. Her attorney Paula Canny says that "dissemination of photos and videos ... after a criminal case is concluded is detrimental to the crime victim." It's up to Judge Garrett Wong in a hearing today whether this case is concluded, and whether Lee has a right to subpeona such evidence in the upcoming, trial-like Ethics Commission hearing.
Even though the domestic abuse case against Mirkarimi never went to trial, the Ethics Commission hearing about Mirkarimi's misconduct has been shaping up as an ersatz trial, with Superior Court judges hearing arguments weekly regarding the admissibility of various bits of evidence against Mirkarimi. Just last week we were hearing about a fight over the cell phone records of Mirkarimi's campaign manager, Linnette Haynes, whom the city attorney's office believes conspired with Lopez to cover up the video and/or destroy evidence.
In any event, the video, which shows a bruised and crying Lopez the day after the alleged abusive incident, may not even matter. In the end, the Mayor's side is just trying to prove misconduct, and in the case of the abusive incident, all of the Board of Supervisors have already seen the leaked still from the video and likely no one is too confused about what happened. Also, Ivory Madison has already agreed to testify, so the video could be moot. And again, this isn't a real trial! As discussed, it will ultimately be up to the Supervisors, probably come August or so, whether or not to reinstate Mirkarimi as Sheriff or banish him forever, and it will take nine of them voting for his banishment to make it happen.
[Chron]
