Columns

On May 31st, I saw Eliana Lopez in her one-woman play, "What is the Scandal?” (“¿Cuál es el Escándalo”) at the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts in San Francisco. I was impressed with Ms. Lopez's performance. She is a talented, attractive actress who performed with passion with just enough humor. Her experience as a Venezuelan telenovela star showed.  

Her performance did shed light on her own feelings about the domestic violence matter, but with omissions of, and reinterpretations of pertinent facts. But then, we were told before the performance started that this was a work of fiction. Wink! Wink! 

As you may remember, on January 13, 2012, Ross Mirkarimi was charged with domestic violence battery, child endangerment, and dissuading a witness as a result of an altercation he had with Ms. Lopez on New Year's Eve, before he was sworn in as sheriff of San Francisco County. A charge of false imprisonment was later added. Under a plea agreement, Mirkarimi pled guilty to misdemeanor false imprisonment. The other charges were dropped. Mirkarimi was sentenced to 3 years probation, 100 hours community service, 52 weeks of domestic violence classes, and required to make a public apology to Ivory Madison who reported the abuse to the police. 

Here are some of my major "quibbles."  

Ivory Madison, Lopez's neighbor, does not fare well in the play. Lopez portrays her as a cloying, obsequious person, who somehow duped her into making the video of what happened on New Year's Eve. In the play, however, Lopez does not mention or contradict what she said on the video. If you recall, she tearfully says Mirkarimi grabbed her while holding up her right arm showing the bruise and stating, "This is the second time this is happening . . ." She also told the same story to Callie Williams, another neighbor.  

Lopez also does not mention Mirkarimi's former girlfriend and television host Christina Flores, who told San Francisco Police that Mirkarimi had anger issues, and said, “But [Mirkarimi] grabbed my arm and pushed me against the wall, yelling. Flores' testimony might show that Mirkarimi had a propensity for violence. This person is very much a pit bull and a bully.” The court ruled that the video and Flores' testimony were admissible if the matter had gone to trial. 

Finally, the play did not really tell the audience the current status of their marriage. 

And remember, Lopez refused to cooperate with investigators, claiming the matter was politically motivated. If both Mirkarimi and Lopez had fully cooperated at the beginning of the investigation, perhaps the matter would not have escalated into the soap opera it became. 

The bottom line is that Mirkarimi admitted committing domestic against Ms. Lopez and he pled guilty to false imprisonment. In addition, the San Francisco Ethics Commission in a 4-1 vote finding Mirkarimi engaged in official misconduct stemming from his New Year's Eve argument resulting in Ms. Lopez's bruised arm.  

I'm sure Mirkarimi hopes the domestic violence conviction will not lose him the re-election. I suspect Ms. Lopez will be an important part of the campaign and be the point person on any domestic violence issues.