Judge Partly Grants Phone Record Request In Mirkarimi Case
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS/AP) - A judge has ruled that some of San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi's phone records must be turned over to city officials as part of their effort to remove him from office following his domestic violence conviction.
A San Francisco judge said Tuesday that Mayor Ed Lee was entitled to a record of calls and text messages Mirkarimi and his wife, Eliana Lopez, sent and received from four people between Dec. 31, when Mirkarimi allegedly bruised Lopez's arm, and his arrest two weeks later. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the four people include Mirkarimi's campaign manager and a neighbor his wife allegedly confided in.
Deputy San Francisco City Attorney Peter Keith believes Mirkarimi was present when Lopez allegedly called neighbor, Abraham Mertens, on January 4th and asked him not to tell police about the domestic violence incident. Keith believes text and phone records from AT&T will confirm that.
KCBS' Jeffrey Schaub Reports:
"If Sheriff Mirkarimi was indeed present when this call was made, that would show his knowledge that these witness dissuasion efforts were going on," Keith said.
Mirkarimi's lawyer David Waggoner said his client has nothing to hide, but wants to narrow the release of the records.
"We want a public spotlight on all of this evidence. The issue is the privacy rights of the individuals involved," he said in defense.
Lee had sought a record of all the calls and text messages Mirkarimi sent and received in that period. He believes they will show whether Mirkarimi tried to dissuade witnesses from cooperating with the domestic violence investigation.
Mirkarimi has denied doing that.
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