SAN FRANCISCO -- Fighting to save his career, Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi told the city's Ethics Commission Friday that he committed a crime by bruising his wife's arm during an argument, but also believed political foes could be behind calls for his prosecution and resignation.
Mayor Ed Lee, who suspended Mirkarimi and city for misconduct Mirkarimi in March after the sheriff pleaded guilty to misdemeanor false imprisonment in connection with the New Year's Eve argument, testified hours later that it's the mayor's duty to decide on "a case by case basis" whether an elected official's criminal conviction amounts to official misconduct. Lee also said he would find it "extremely difficult" to work with Mirkarimi if he's able to get his job back.
Lee cited Mirkarimi with misconduct and suspended him without pay in March, shortly after the sheriff pleaded guilty to misdemeanor false imprisonment for bruising his wife's arm during a New Year's Eve dispute.
Lee testified that he suspended Mirkarimi because of the significance of the role of sheriff as one of the top law enforcement positions in the city.
Lee's testimony was interrupted after only about half an hour when commission chairman Benedict Hur announced he'd been instructed to adjourn the session immediately. When the hearing reconvened 90 minutes later, Hur said the commission had been "notified by the San Francisco Police Department that we needed to adjourn the
meeting. There was a security threat that has now been found not to be credible."Mirkarimi was asked Friday by defense attorney David Waggoner whether he can still be effective as sheriff -- and he said he could.
"I realize the uphill battle that has now been laid in front of me, and I believe that to the eyes of everybody it would seem almost impossible for me to rise to that standard," he said.
Yet, he said, San Francisco has specialized in justice that allows personal redemption, adding: "Never in my wildest dreams did I believe I would become an example of that redemptive process."
The hearing's next public sessions are scheduled for mid-July, although lawyers will spar in coming weeks over whether certain parts of witnesses' written declarations are admissible as evidence. Eventually the five-member Ethics Commission will make a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors, which ultimately will vote on whether to kick Mirkarimi out of office.
Deputy City Attorney Peter Keith questioned Mirkarimi about his early efforts to downplay the situation. "Sheriff, is domestic violence a private family matter?" Keith asked.
"It is not," Mirkarimi replied, acknowledging that saying just that in January sent the wrong message to the public.
The sheriff said that he knew when he made the remark that he had injured his wife -- Venezuelan former telenovela star Eliana Lopez -- and committed a crime.
Mirkarimi agreed that domestic violence is an underreported crime that often remains hidden if witnesses don't come forward. But he testified that he made no efforts to dissuade Ivory Madison, the neighbor who sparked the investigation by giving her videotape of a tearful Lopez to police, or to smear her in the media.
When Lee gave the just-sentenced Mirkarimi a resign-or-be-suspended ultimatum, "you had let down the sheriff's department?" Keith asked.
"Yes," Mirkarimi said. But asked whether he should've resigned, he replied "that given the choice that was presented to me by the mayor, I did exactly as I should."
Later, questioned by Waggoner about the argument, Mirkarimi said: "I wish I could turn back the clock, of course; I feel horrible, ashamed." He also said he made "a terrible mistake" in ever having calling it "a private matter, a family matter.''
Mirkarimi, a San Francisco supervisor from 2005 until his election as sheriff in November, hadn't even been sworn in when he had the altercation with Lopez. He was sentenced to one day in his own jail, three years of probation, one year of domestic-violence counseling, 100 hours of community service and a fine.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. Josh Richman covers politics. Follow him at Twitter.com/josh_richman. Read the Political Blotter at IBAbuzz.com/politics.
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