Defense counsel filed a motion today in San Francisco Superior Court seeking to disqualify the office of City Attorney Dennis Herrera from representing Mayor Ed Lee in the case against suspended Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi (pictured). File photo by Luke Thomas.
By Luke Thomas
April 11, 2012, 4:00 pm
Citing a lack of authority and a conflict of interest, defense counsel representing suspended Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi today filed a motion in San Francisco Superior Court seeking to disqualify the office of City Attorney Dennis Herrera from representing Mayor Ed Lee, Fog City Journal can report.
“The City Attorney cannot draft the Mayor’s charges and then turn around and act as an independent prosecutor for the City before the Ethics Commission, all while advising the Ethics Commission at the same time and continuing to represent the Mayor,” said defense counsel David Waggoner, responding to FCJ inquiry. “The City Attorney’s actual conflicts of interest may have already destroyed any possible hope of a fair hearing before the Ethics Commission.”
According to the brief, “Nothing in the Charter authorizes the City Attorney to represent the Mayor, or any other elected officer, in any legal proceeding, under any other circumstances.”
City Attorney Dennis Herrera.
Additionally, the brief argues, “The City Attorney cannot ethically serve as both the prosecutor of this attempt to remove Sheriff Mirkarimi, and the lawyer for one of the supposedly neutral fact-finding and decision-making bodies, the Ethics Commission.”
It is the latest motion to be filed by Mirkarimi in his quest for justice. A previous motion, filed March 27, seeks to reinstate the former District 5 supervisor as the lawfully elected Sheriff of San Francisco. That hearing has been scheduled for April 20.
Lee suspended Mirkarimi without pay March 21 after Mirkarimi pleaded guilty March 19 to one count of misdemeanor false imprisonment stemming from an alleged domestic violence incident involving his wife, Eliana Lopez, on New Year’s Eve. Mirkarimi was sworn into office January 8.
Responding, Herrera spokesperson Matt Dorsey told FCJ, “This is just a procedural dispute about an administrative process. The City Attorney’s office has lawyers assigned to every commission in city government.”
“We have ethical screens in place for about two-dozen quasi judicial functions citywide. They assure independence and protect due process rights. It‘s no different for the Ethics Commission and we’re confident the court will agree,” Dorsey added.
A hearing on the motion has been set for April 19 at 9:30 am.
Luke Thomas
Luke Thomas is a former software developer and computer consultant who proudly hails from London, England. In 2001, Thomas took a yearlong sabbatical to travel and develop a photographic portfolio. Upon his return to the US, Thomas studied photojournalism to pursue a career in journalism. In 2004, Thomas worked for several neighborhood newspapers in San Francisco before accepting a partnership agreement with the SanFranciscoSentinel.com, a news website formerly covering local, state and national politics. In September 2006, Thomas launched FogCityJournal.com. The BBC, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox News, New York Times, Der Spiegel, San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Magazine, 7x7, San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco Bay Guardian and the San Francisco Weekly, among other publications and news outlets, have published his work. Thomas is a member of the Freelance Unit of the Pacific Media Workers Guild, TNG-CWA Local 39521 and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
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April 12, 2012 at 8:24 pm
Im glad mirkarimi has stopped employing that tactic of using lawyers to get things thrown out of court.
I read he hired Michael Jackson’s old lawyer. Definitely speaks to his innocence
April 12, 2012 at 1:37 pm
Why can’t the City Attorney draft charges and then prosecute the chargee? District Attorneys do it all the time. They file the charges against the defendant and then prosecute them.
April 12, 2012 at 7:10 am
I don’t believe that “false imprisonment” is a domestic violence charge, though the press keeps reporting that it is. Can anyone confirm that?
April 11, 2012 at 11:01 pm
I have never seen San Francisco without political fodder, especially when it comes to San Francisco Republicans, ie Moderates, all up in the mix.
April 11, 2012 at 8:12 pm
In other news,
I understand that MTA has booted Ross’ car and that they’ve suspended garbage pick up and shut down utilities to his house. Plus, the cops are playing loud rap music from boom boxes set up surrounding his residence.
I’ve stopped on my daily walks through Fort Mason a couple of times over the past months and watched a perfectly honed Peregrine falcon pick apart a whacked squirrel while perched on a limb with a fab GG Bridge background.
This is kinda the same.
I mean, you feel sorry for the squirrel …
But, you learn so much about the falcon.
Also, Giants down 16-8 in 8th in Colorado.
I donated $10 each to the Avalos and Campos campaigns and I’m a retired teacher on lowest Social Security payout. You should do the same.
Mar too.
h.
April 11, 2012 at 5:21 pm
Brilliant!