You can bet that City Attorney Dennis Herrera laughed when he heard the latest request from embattled Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi and his lawyers. Mirkarimi's lawyers (who may or may not be working pro bono at this point) Shepard Kopp and David Waggoner argued in a letter to the city attorney's office that Mirkarimi is due legal representation from the city under the city charter, because he is an elected official.

We already knew that a big piece of this fight was financial — Mirkarimi wanted the job in part because it would mean job security, at a starting salary of $195,000 a year, until retirement. And he tried to get Mayor Lee to keep him on the payroll during this Ethics Commission process, which the Mayor refused to do. So he's a little strapped for cash at this point!

Anyway, it will be at least another three months before this is all over, and those lawyers can't work for free forever.

[Chron]

All previous Ross Mirkarimi coverage on SFist.