We know that you've all been dying, since yesterday, for an update on embattled and suspended Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi and his plight to keep his job amidst an Ethics Commission hearing. Well, here you go. There was a hearing in Superior Court yesterday, and the judge decided to delay for another week deciding whether to make Eliana Lopez and/or Ivory Madison hand over the much publicized video to Mayor Ed Lee and the city attorney's office for use in the Ethics Commission hearing. Also, Mirkarimi's attorneys used the opportunity to file a brief once again arguing that the Mayor's actions are "transparently political" and "absurd" in light of historical precedent.
They argue that only two times in the past has the city tried to remove an elected official from office for misconduct, and they both involved felonies (one was even a murder). The wording of the city charter, which says misconducts is anything "that falls below the standard of decency, good faith and right action," they say is "unconstitutionally vague." Whether a judge is going to be sympathetic to their arguments remains to be seen, but it would sound like they're trying to get the whole ethics proceeding canceled outright, which seems unlikely.
Meanwhile, Deputy City Attorney Sherri Kaiser maintains, "The definition of official misconduct is not whether or not the official committed a felony."
[Chron]
