An emotionally powerful video of suspended Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi’s wife showing bruises allegedly inflicted by her husband has been turned over to the Mayor’s office by order of a judge. It was video that the defense had hoped to keep private.
The video, taken the day after an altercation that led to the guilty plea by Mirkarimi, shows Eliana Lopez looking at a bruise that she said was the second like it. However, the defense claimed that Lopez showed it to her neighbor while seeking legal counsel and therefore the tape was confidential. They also said that forcing the footage to be disclosed to the public was akin to re-victimizing Lopez all over again.
However, that video is now in the possession of the Mayor’s office, and will likely use it as evidence in the case against the Sheriff, a case that could lead to his ouster from office.
From the San Francisco Chronicle:
One of the most emotional pieces of evidence in the domestic violence case against suspended Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi, a video of his tearful wife that she fought strenuously to keep from public view, may now be used to oust the sheriff for official misconduct.
San Francisco Superior Court Judge Garrett Wong on Tuesday ordered the video released to Mayor Ed Lee, who wants to use it in administrative proceedings to try to remove Mirkarimi from office over a Dec. 31 incident with his wife, Eliana Lopez, in which he grabbed her arm hard enough to bruise it.
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