Ethics Commision Delays Final Mirkarimi Decision

By: Brian Shields - Thu, 16 Aug 2012 22:45:24 -0800

SAN FRANCSICO (KRON) -- Suspended San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi will have to wait until next month to find out if the the city's Ethics Commission will recommend he be removed from office.

The commission voted four-to-one Thursday that Mirkarimi is guilty of official misconduct over his guilty plea to a misdemeanor count in connection with a New Year's Eve fight he had with his wife.

Commissioners decided to delay until September a vote on whether to recommend the suspended sheriff be removed permanently from office. The final decision on his future will come from the Board of Supervisors, a body Mirkarimi once served on. He will need only three votes of support on the board to keep his job.

Mirkarimi is praising the Board's diligence in pursuing the matter.

"I thought they were as thoughtful as one could possibly hope for," Mirkarimi told reporters after the hearing. "I don't agree with the final outcome in this regard but I appreciated the level of depth they tried to arrive at."

The commission did vote unanimously to clear Mirkarimi of allegations by the city attorney's office that he dissuaded witnesses or abused the power of his office.

Supporters of the suspended sheriff, including his mother who traveled from Rhode Island for the hearing, called on the commission to keep him in office. Some Mirkarimi backers call the entire matter a witch hunt. However some domestic violence victims advocates say they can't imagine a sheriff who had been convicted of false imprisonment running San Francisco's domestic violence prevention program.

Mirkarimi's wife stood with her husband before and after Thursday's hearing. The couple is back together after the court lifted an order that they stay apart for seven months.

Stay tuned to KRON 4 and KRON4.com for comprehensive coverage of the fight over the suspended sheriff's future.

(Copyright 2012, KRON 4, All rights reserved.)

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