SAN FRANCISCO -- Fighting to save his career, Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi told the city's Ethics Commission Friday he committed a crime by bruising his wife's arm during an argument but also initially believed political foes could have been behind calls for his prosecution and resignation.
Mirkarimi, elected sheriff in November, acknowledged sending a Jan. 12 text message to his campaign manager in which he wrote that a "loud drumbeat needs to vibe that this is a political witch hunt." He testified that he believed at the time his campaign opponents might have been encouraging calls for him to step down.
Mayor Ed Lee, who in March suspended Mirkarimi without pay and cited him for misconduct 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 said he suspended Mirkarimi because of the significance of the role of sheriff as one of the top law enforcement positions in the city. The mayor said he would find it "extremely difficult" to work with Mirkarimi if he's able to get his job back.
"I came to the conclusion that he committed domestic violence," Lee said, adding that Mirkarimi's brief stay in the jail he runs and subsequent plea helped him make his decision.
Mirkarimi's attorney, Shepard Kopp, later
asked Lee if he was telling the commission he could not work with Mirkarimi in the same vein as he does with City Attorney Dennis Herrera, who ran against him for mayor last year."Are you telling the commission that you refuse to carry out your duties?" Kopp asked Lee.
"I'm not going to refrain from any of my duties," the mayor replied.
Kopp later asked Lee if he could put aside his differences and work with the embattled sheriff if the proceedings fail to remove Mirkarimi from office.
"Yes," Lee said.
Lee's testimony was halted for about 90 minutes after police received an apparent threat of car bombs near City Hall and another undisclosed building, authorities said. No devices were discovered.
In his second day of testimony, 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."
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 saying just that in January sent the wrong message to the public.
The sheriff said 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 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."
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 jail, three years of probation, one year of domestic-violence counseling, 100 hours of community service and a fine.
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.
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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