Faramarz

Yolanda thanks again

The thing is really slow but I finally got it. Regardless SF Gate is making me sick. I read a lot of it over the weekend the holier than thou ***holes must return to reality. People are innocent until proven guilty: not in SF.  

If any election may be overturned like this then we are more *** than I thought. Next: you lost an election: never fear! Make an accusation; get a biased DA and Judge and you are good to go. 

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//www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/01/22/BAQK1MS9PS.DTL

The title of San Francisco Gate article:

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OMG! The case is getting intriguing!

//www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/us/charges-against-mirkarimi-present-a-political-twist.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all

According to New York Times:

It is almost impossible to separate the political aspects of the case from the legal issues.

The district attorney, George Gascón, a former police chief, and Mr. Mirkarimi have an extended history of public animosity. Before Mr. Mirkarimi was elected sheriff of the city and county of San Francisco, he spent seven years as a county supervisor. For a couple of those years, the two battled over police patrols, intelligence units and immigration policy. ......

Mr. Gascón and Mr. Mirkarimi began hectoring each other almost as soon as Mr. Gascón arrived in San Francisco in August 2009 as the new police chief and a protégé of Gavin Newsom, who was then the mayor.

Thanks Yolanda

I am telling you people this is going to get really nasty. The way the judge behaved. In particular treating her as a poor incompetent. These will return to haunt all those involved. Lopez is doing a fine job of turning the table.

Remember all these including DA and judge need to be reelected. Get this to be a racial anti-Latino thing and they are in deep trouble. Much of it thanks to the statements the judge made. Make me think prosecutors should not become judge.

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Eliana Lopez, the soap star:

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Here is his wife's words:

Faramarz

He is done with his career if he does not get a "not guilty" verdict. That is a given to me. Thus his only chance is to get in front of jury and be exonerated. I am not a lawyer but this is what I will do if he is innocent.

• Go in front of jury and have my lawyer ask me why I did not do a plea bargain. Then respond: because I do not want to lie and I am innocent.
• Put the wife on stand and ask her what happened. Lopez would then say she got drunk on Christmas and she was not attacked. And she initially lied to the neighbor because she was angry. Her bad command of English contributed to the misunderstanding. Not being under oath means she will not be in legal trouble. Then say that now she is under oath and realized the situation. Therefore she being truthful and honest.

It puts the blame on Lopez and gets Mirkarimi off the hook. Nobody will be able to blame him for having a bonehead wife. In fact he will get sympathy! Hey it is a bad situation and he must do what it takes. He is being lynched right now.

VPK

I am not saying that he is guilty.

His wife told a neighbor what took place and it was videotaped. She also said that it happened once before, 9 months ago. I believe that their argument on the New Year's Eve was about her going to Venezuela with their son and he thought that she may take the kid and not come back.

You see, this kind of stuff coming out during a trial would sway the jury one way or another.

I do agree with you that the case is a weak one and he might survive a trial, but his career may not survive all the drama.

Faramarz Jan

This whole thing stinks and I am not sure what is the right thing. I figure he being in that position knows the law and his options. I spoke to an American friend who is a retired California prosecutor. He know the law in and out. 

The guy was shocked and told me this is total bull. In his whole career he never requested a restraining order when both parties opposed it. Obviously the prosecutor and judge got something going. Maybe the Sheriff knows this and is up to something. He needs a "not guilty" verdict or his future is sunk. Particularly if he is innocent. You are assuming he is guilty. What if the wife lied the first time? Why should he pay for his wife's screw up? Remember initially the wife was not under oath. All she has to say is that: she was stressed; angry and lied to the neighbor. Now under oath knowing the full implications she is going to tell the truth. So what that she lied. It will not affect him as a Sheriff. But if he pleas guilty that is it for him. Why should he lie; commit purger y and admit guilt when it is not true. 

I know if I was him I would absolutely demand a jury trial. Remember a jury is normal humans not motivated by politics. Now imagine a tearful mother pointing to the judge and prosecutor as the ones doing the real violence to her. Breaking her family and making her miserable. Add to it the fact that the judge is banning two married adults from seeing each other. Plus not even allowing supervised visitation to his child. This if played well is not going to make a jury happy, In addition the insulting way the judge treated Lopez. The racist remarks about her immigrant status and language ability. Lopez may turn it around and say that is how she got it wrong with the neighbor. Mirkarimi needs a "not guilty" verdict. I think he as a good shot at it.

Time to Act

He needs to make a decision very quickly. Last week at his swearing-in ceremony neither the mayor nor the DA or the chief of police showed up. If he cannot gain their trust immediately, he will become very ineffective as the Sherriff and will almost have to resign or be forced by the mayor and the board to leave office.

A trial will most likely add to the drama and will keep him in the spotlight for another month or two. The other problem with the trial is that they will put his wife on the stands and she might contradict herself. None of this looks good for the family or his future.

I still believe that he should plea bargain as quickly as he can and try to mend faces with all involved.

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Mayor Ed Lee wants to give Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi the weekend to think about whether or not he can still do his job while he faces criminal charges.

Dear OnlyIran

You may well be right but the whole thing stinks. Have you read the details of this? The way both prosecutor and judge acted is odd at minimum. The alleged victim was treated very poorly.

This is a jury trial for sure. If he wins then he will probably survive. If not he is in deep ***. The one lesson which all politicians Iranian or not must know is "watch out". You will be dragged through the mud. 

I spoke to a number of experts who told me a nobody would have got counseling. But a high profile sheriff Iranian or not does not get that option. The way out is resigning. Do you remember Spitzer the Governor of New York. 

This is terrible

I hate to say it.  But I don't think that his carrer can withstand this.  

My friend a Retired California prosecutor

and I spoke briefly about it. He promised me to examine the case and let me know. However his initial response was that it sounds weird. A restraining order is not sought or issued against the wishes of both parties.

He is going to review what is going on and get back to me. I will update this blog as I find out. But it sounds like there may be overreach happening.

If you read the proceedings the judge sounds very biased.

.......

Mug shot published by MSNBC:

//www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45997244

Wish Ross and his family well

Hoping for a fair and quick resolution to this ordeal. 

Responses

Dear Faramarz: I know what you mean and were you are coming from. But the system is not a good as you may think. Thanks to God I have not had to deal with it. But I know others who have. 

I have a good friend who got into a load of trouble for no reason. Her husband wanted to get "the upper hand" in a divorce. He set her up and the system came on her like a ton of bricks. I have another friend his wife accused him of molesting their son. The system worked in his case. The wife got found insane and committed. But he went thought 60,000 $ and hell before it was over. Both people happen to be Americans of European origin not Iranian; no Iranians involved. 

The whole system is messed up. Thanks to "child advocates" whose idea of protection is to break a family on flimsiest things. No wonder "family" is in so much trouble in America. Making things worse is that many of the child service people are former victims. Meaning they have a chip on their shoulders; always seeing abuse. The damage these people do is immense. Honestly I do not blame this family if they move to another nation or state. Which is what his political opponents want.

Faramarz and other friends

mirkarimi may be guilty or not and discussing the issue can be healthy. however, i hope that since the case is about him and he knows these kind of issues better than you and i and he is familiar with judicial aspects of it (i am guessing more than faramarz and i are), he would be at a better position to know how to plea.

It is what it is. Can't spin it.

I remember during Monica gate Clinton supporters were spinning and not believing to the very end.  In fact I think that whole saga was the milestone and turning point for believing many of these stories.

We can wait till the Jury delivers and the Judge issues a sentence or the case is pled as no contest or guilty, but evidence doesn't seem to indicate it's just an "accusation".  It's not nothing.

For me I don't know him much other than the rave reviews on this website along with many photo essays.  I have no attachments and have no problem believing he has serious anger management issues.

So if he is convicted I think he should be treated the same way for his bad deeds as he was treated for his good deeds.  Equal application of the i.com law! 

Everything is sacred

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They have the video of his wife's scar! They can't dismiss the case!

The wife told her neighbors that her hubby is violent!

Anahid and VPK

Please allow me to explain myself.

First of all, I believe that the Iranian-American community should continue to be supportive of him. That support could be by “utter silence” in the case of many, or could be providing opinions as in my case.

I believe in the judicial system in this country, despite many of its shortcomings. When a judge in her wisdom, not only does not dismiss a domestic abuse case but rather orders it to go to a jury trial, and also issues a restraining order, it means that there is sufficient evidence that something must have happened.

What makes a domestic abuse case different from other “he said, she said” cases, especially when small children are involved is that the accused is now charged by the state. And even if the accuser says that it was all a misunderstanding, the case will still go forward. One of the peculiarities of domestic abuse cases is that even if a spouse “verbally” abuses the other spouse in front of a child, that constitute a child abuse and the state is obligated to investigate and take proper action.

This case as those who live in the Bay Area know has received tremendous international attention and like it or not is a subject of serious discussions and debates. I believe that discussing this rather important topic is healthy for the Iranian-American community.

Wait a minute

I agree with Anahid 100% it is not your place to tell him what to do. Why should he "admit" something if he has not done it. The person accused is innocent until proven guilty. Did anyone think that maybe he is not guilty.

People are already convicting him before a trial or anything!  Then one person extends it to "Iranians". This is total bull specially because the wife denies it. To me if "victim" denies it the whole thing must be dismissed.

What kind of judge will bar someone from seeing his family based on accusation. When  the wife is denying it! In my opinion the judge needs to be removed for bias. Never have a person whose job was convicting people be the judge.

Faramarz, it is not your place

to tell mirkarimi or anyone else what pleas they should do. towards the end of race, a very established candidate got into race. i thought he would win but mirkarimi defeated him, so i am leaving room for possibility that another commentator noted. in any case, not your place to dictate to him his line of defense.

Due process

I have known Ross Mirkarimi as a local politician and a very good Iranian in our community since 2007. Ross has carried his responsibilities as a San Francisco Supervisor quite competently and has emerged as a very well-respected local politician. The race that he just won was only made possible through the help of his dedicated supporters who had a lot less money than his opponents' supporters, but believed in Ross and helped him make his victory happen.

As an Iranian-American in our community, Ross has been dedicated to supporting Iranians locally, when they come to visit the Bay Area, and when they show up to demonstrations in Tehran. Ross Mirkarimi supported and made happen the largest gathering of Iranians to support the 2009 uprising worldwide.

A very serious accusation has been made against Ross Mirkarimi. Such an accusation would threaten the reputation and livelihood of any individual, let alone someone who is now in the law enforcement business.

Watching the news and things that happen in Iran, the thing that upsets me and makes me the most hopeless sometimes is lack of justice in Iran, where there are thousands of people whose lives are ruined because the Iranian Judiciary does not have competent judges and juries to ensure fair trials and accused individuals are not given a chance to defend themselves to the best of their abilities, ending up in prisons or gallows as a result.

In this country, however, I do have a lot of faith in the judicial system. From what little I have seen of courts and the court system, I find it organized and I trust that in a good majority of cases, justice is served.

The least we can do for any man or woman, Iranian or not, who is accused of a crime, is to reserve judgement and let due process examine his guilt and innocence and prove it beyond doubt. Until then, I think the ethical thing for all us of would be to stand back and if we don't feel compelled to support the accused individual, then to at least not become his judge and jury ourselves.

He Needs to Come Clean

At this point, in my opinion, his best option is to plea bargain and accept probation and domestic abuse counseling. That way he can salvage his family and his career.

Going to trial where his wife has to (albeit reluctantly) describe what might have happened will leave the jury with no option but to convict him.

Americans in general and the Bay Area people in particular will give you a second chance if they believe that you are honest and sincere.

Mirkarimi should be Iranian Of the Day.

Everything is sacred

Mirkarimi Ordered to Stay away from Family

Yesterday, Mirkarimi pleaded not guilty to the three counts of domestic abuse. However, the judge, a former domestic abuse prosecutor ordered him to stay away from his wife and 2-year old son until his jury trial is over.

Here is the article.

//www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2...

Days of Our Lives

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Og7-6YubuS4

Peyton Place

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fqi8fkMmqbM

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He was born in Chicago, his mom is Jewish Russian-American according to Wikipedia........his wife seems to be Nicole Simpson type of lady!

Very sad!