{"id":4978,"date":"2012-08-18T15:03:21","date_gmt":"2012-08-18T23:03:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fogcityjournal.com\/wordpress\/?p=4978"},"modified":"2017-05-28T22:50:55","modified_gmt":"2017-05-29T06:50:55","slug":"a-guinea-pig-in-the-twilight-zone-commission-sustains-reduced-charges-against-suspended-sheriff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fogcityjournal.com\/wordpress\/4978\/a-guinea-pig-in-the-twilight-zone-commission-sustains-reduced-charges-against-suspended-sheriff\/","title":{"rendered":"A \u201cGuinea Pig\u201d in the \u201cTwilight Zone\u201d: Commission Sustains Reduced Charges Against Suspended Sheriff"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

The San Francisco Ethics Commission voted 4-1 Thursday to sustain two of six charges of official misconduct filed by Mayor Ed Lee against suspended Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi. Photos by Luke Thomas.<\/p><\/div>\n

By Luke Thomas<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

August 18, 2012<\/p>\n

The San Francisco Ethics Commission Thursday sustained two of six charges of official misconduct lodged against suspended Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi by Mayor Ed Lee, a decision reached after the quasi-judicial body struggled to interpret and apply an untested definition of official misconduct as defined in the City Charter.<\/p>\n

In its 4-1 decision, with Chair Ben Hur in dissent, the commission rejected as not credible star witness testimony of Mirkarimi\u2019s wife, Eliana Lopez, who testified under oath her husband did not abuse her on December 31 when, during a heated argument, Mirkarimi grabbed Lopez\u2019s arm and caused a bruise.<\/p>\n

Instead, the commission relied on a video of a tearful Lopez, recorded January 1 by the couple\u2019s neighbor, Ivory Madison, who urged Lopez to make the video, which, Madison said, could be used against Mirkarimi in the event the couple sought divorce, or entered into a child custody battle.<\/p>\n

Madison, without consulting Lopez or seeking her permission, reported the incident January 4 to police, triggering a criminal investigation and a cascade of administrative and legal hardships imposed on the family including the mayor\u2019s suspension of Mirkarimi without pay and the couple\u2019s forced separation.<\/p>\n

Citing \u201cinsufficient evidence,\u201d the commission unanimously rejected the mayor\u2019s amended charges of witness dissuasion and impeding a police investigation (count 3), abuse of office (count 2), or that Mirkarimi committed domestic violence (count 1).<\/p>\n

Instead, the commission said Mirkarimi\u2019s action on December 31 that led to his plea and conviction of misdemeanor false imprisonment (count 4), was in effect a breach of conduct code required of a Sheriff-Elect (count 5).\u00a0 Count 6, also rejected, contained the same charge as count 5 but was applied to the office of supervisor, the position Mirkarimi held until he was sworn in as Sheriff on January 8.<\/p>\n

By sustaining at least one of the mayor\u2019s charges, the commission is implicitly recommending to the Board of Supervisors that the sheriff should be removed from office, said Scott Emblidge, legal counsel representing the commission and the Board of Supervisors.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf not so sustained, then the suspended officer shall be reinstated,\u201d Emblidge added.<\/p>\n

The quasi-judicial body comprises five political appointees – three of whom were appointed by the elected heads of the departments directly involved in the criminal and administrative prosecution of Mirkarimi, raising questions as to whether the appointees could adjudicate the matter without some measure of partiality.<\/p>\n

Mirkarimi and Lopez have maintained from the outset that the zealous nature of Mirkarimi’s prosecution is politically motivated, a belief bolstered by the mayor’s alleged perjury on the witness stand<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"

The definition of official misconduct as defined in the SF City Charter.<\/p><\/div>\n

That partiality was tested over the sometimes dizzying interpretations of the definition of official misconduct with Commissioners Paul Renne (appointed by District Attorney George Gasc\u00f3n), Beverly Hayon (appointed by Mayor Lee), Dorothy Liu (appointed by the Board of Supervisors) and Jamienne Studley (appointed by City Attorney Dennis Herrera) stating that the requirement test of \u201cwrongful behavior by a public officer\u201d in relationship \u201cto the duties of his or her office\u201d is met because the Sheriff oversees domestic violence programs.<\/p>\n

But, during the course of the ten-hour meeting, which included public comment from a majority of Mirkarimi supporters, commissioners characterized the official misconduct definition as \u201cmurky,\u201d \u201cambiguous,\u201d \u201cvague,\u201d \u201cbroad\u201d and \u201cunconstitutional.”<\/p>\n

Hur, who was appointed by Assessor Phil Ting, said, in his view, there had to be a direct relationship between the wrongful behavior and the office held, basing his interpretation on a legal precedent set in the 1980 appellate case of Joseph P. Mazzola vs. City and County of San Francisco<\/a>, a decision resulting in the overturning of Mazzola\u2019s suspension.<\/p>\n

“Grave concerns”<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIf we don\u2019t find a nexus to the relationship of the duties, then we are opening this provision up to abuse and manipulation down the road in a way that we\u2019re not really going to like,\u201d Hur said.\u00a0 \u201cI have grave concerns about what the next case looks like unless we interpret this in a way that I think the voters intended, and also that is narrow and understandable for elected officials,\u201d adding later in the session that the untested interpretation of official misconduct made Mirkarimi a \u201cguinea pig.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Ethics Commission Chair Ben Hur.<\/p><\/div>\n

“Twilight zone”<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIn this case, while this took place – in that twilight zone if you will – between the time he was elected and he actually took office, nonetheless, as sheriff-elect, his duties of sheriff relate to\u2026 there is domestic violence and, you know, really quite a swath of San Francisco has cut nationally in terms of what we do,\u201d Hayon said, \u201cso it seems to me that if we read it that way, to me, that still means that what he did relates to the duties of office.\u00a0 Now I don\u2019t know if that falls under the legal discussion that we\u2019re having, but that\u2019s how I would interpret it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Ethics Commissioner Beverly Hayon.<\/p><\/div>\n

Timing<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hur also raised the question of whether official misconduct or removal from office is applicable to Mirkarimi since he was not sworn into the office of sheriff until January 8.<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess the problem I have with tying the relationship to the effect, or the ability of the sheriff to perform the job going forward, is that it doesn\u2019t seem to work from a timing perspective,\u201d Hur said. \u201cTo me, this provision is talking about wrongful behavior that at the time you\u2019re doing it is in relation to your duties, and I think a lot of the testimony we heard is about whether or not the sheriff is going to be effective down the road.\u00a0 He may very well not be effective as a sheriff, but I don\u2019t think that\u2019s in our purview, and if we\u2019re going to say essentially what the mayor\u2019s expert said, who said that any misconduct by a sheriff is official misconduct \u2013 and that is something that troubles me because it seems the parties can see that there is a difference between personal misconduct and official misconduct.\u201d<\/p>\n

Renne then responded with a hypothetical question, asking Hur that if Mirkarimi was running for re-election to the Board of Supervisors, whether an act of domestic violence would apply to the question of whether Supervisor-Elect Mirkarimi would be guilty of official misconduct.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he were re-elected to the Board of Supervisors, are you saying that he would not be subject to a claim of official misconduct because of domestic violence, because you wouldn\u2019t have the same arguments that you would have about the duties of sheriff?\u201d Renne asked. \u201cBut as I read this statute, it certainly would be an indication of conduct that did not meet the standard of decency and good faith and right conduct.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Ethics Commissioner Paul Renne.<\/p><\/div>\n

Referring to the Mazzola decision, Hur responded, \u201cNo I do not think it would be official misconduct and the reason is because I think the precedent that we have that actually talks about \u2013 albeit in dicta \u2013 what relation to the duties of office mean, is pretty clear that there has to be a direct relationship of the alleged wrongdoing to the office held.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut that dicta was before this ordinance was ever passed,\u201d Renne responded.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ordinance had been passed and the language that is now in the ordinance that\u2019s in relation to the duties language, is the same precise language that Mazzola addressed,\u201d Hur said.<\/p>\n

After voting on the motion to sustain the reduced charges, the commission agreed to reconvene in the coming weeks to approve a written summary of its recommendation, which, together with a 15-inch stack of transcribed testimony, will be delivered to the Board of Supervisors for its considerations.\u00a0 If the Board fails to act on the recommendation within 30 days, a suspended officer is reinstated by default.<\/p>\n

Nine of eleven supervisors must vote in the affirmative to remove an elected official from office.\u00a0 The Board could also vote to discipline Mirkarimi, rather than remove him from office, according to the Charter.<\/p>\n

Following the decision, the mayor released a statement.<\/p>\n

“I am pleased that the members of the Ethics Commission, following a careful review of the evidence, and in the face of a sustained campaign to distract and misdirect them from the facts, agreed with me that Ross Mirkarimi\u2019s actions constitute official misconduct and fall below the ethical conduct we expect of the sheriff, our top law enforcement officer,” Lee said.<\/p>\n

Mirkarimi, who said he was “overwhelmed” by the outpouring of public support, told reporters, “I appreciate the perspectives of the people who do no want to see me reinstated \u2013 they\u2019re wrong.\u00a0 I could be a great sheriff that represents, I think, the need to make sure that all violence is eradicated and is tackled in an effective way in San Francisco.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Suspended Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi and his wife, Eliana Lopez.<\/p><\/div>\n

More Photos<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"

Eliana Lopez enjoying a moment of levity with her husband. Lopez told Fog City Journal that she returned to San Francisco from Venezuela with the couple’s son, Theo, on Monday. She said Theo walked about the cabin “with a big smile on his face and telling all the passengers he is going to San Francisco to see his daddy.”<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"

Mirkarimi defense counsel Paula Canny, Shepard Kopp and David Waggoner.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The San Francisco Ethics Commission Thursday sustained two of six charges of official misconduct lodged against suspended Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi by Mayor Ed Lee, a decision reached after the quasi-judicial body struggled to interpret and apply an untested definition of official misconduct as defined in the City Charter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4979,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[222,17],"tags":[1569,1770,163,1142,1768,1110,1133,443,1771,1767,1769,329,65,1285],"class_list":["post-4978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-politics","tag-ben-hur","tag-beverly-hayon","tag-board-of-supervisors","tag-domestic-violence","tag-dorothy-liu","tag-ed-lee","tag-eliana-lopez","tag-ethics-commission","tag-ivory-madison","tag-jamienne-studley","tag-paul-renne","tag-ross-mirkarimi","tag-san-francisco","tag-scott-emblidge"],"yoast_head":"\nA \u201cGuinea Pig\u201d in the \u201cTwilight Zone\u201d: Commission Sustains Reduced Charges Against Suspended Sheriff - 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