SF supervisors to rule on Mirkarimi's fate

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Suspended San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi will soon find out if he will get his job back. He was taken off the job at the first of the year after a domestic violence incident involving his wife. Supervisors are scheduled to vote on his future Tuesday.

It began with a Dec. 31, 2011 argument between Mirkarimi and his wife Eliana Lopez. The next day she showed her bruised arm to a neighbor who took video and then called the police.

Mirkarimi was sworn in as sheriff on Jan. 8. Five days later he was arrested on domestic violence charges.

Two months later, on March 12, he pleads guilty to one count of false imprisonment. The other charges are dropped.

On March 20, he met with Mayor Ed Lee, who wanted him to resign. He declined, so the mayor suspended him and sent the case to the Ethics Commission.

His hearing before the Ethics Commission began in mid-June and in August the commission found he did commit official misconduct.

"I'm shocked; he's not going to resign," Lopez said of the commission's finding.

The supervisors have to wade through piles of documents sent as part of the Ethics Commission's recommendation in September. They have the power to reject it completely if they want.

Mirkarimi's lawyer says the facts of the case do not support removal... and "we're confident that the board of supervisors is going to see through the inflammatory and prejudicial rhetoric of the mayor& consider the facts of the case and re-instate the sheriff."

Tuesday, anti-domestic violence groups held a rally at City Hall, calling on the supervisors to uphold the recommendation and remove Mirkarimi.

Removal of Mirkarimi requires the vote of at least nine of the 11 supervisors.

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ross mirkarimi, eliana lopez, domestic violence, ed lee, san francisco board of supervisors, san francisco news, heather ishimaru

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