• New sheriff mired in domestic abuse drama

    Jeff Chiu / AP

    San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi and his wife Eliana Lopez leave City Hall in San Francisco on Jan. 13. A prosecutor has charged the newly sworn-in sheriff with misdemeanors, including domestic violence, related to a New Year's Eve incident with his wife.

    By Kari Huus, msnbc.com

    In another blow to San Francisco’s newly elected sheriff Ross Mirkarimi, a judge has refused to lift an order that prevents him from contact with his wife and 2-year-old son.

    Mirkarimi -- inaugurated less than three weeks ago with wife and son at his side, and now embroiled in a domestic abuse case -- called the decision on Thursday "enormously crushing" and "disproportionately cruel," according to a report in The Bay Citizen, a nonprofit news site.

    The legal case promises personal and political drama fit for afternoon soaps, starting with Mirkarimi's reputation as fiercely liberal --even in the context of progressive San Francisco -- and prone to hotheaded tirades against his staff. Witnesses will include an ex-girlfriend whom the politician dropped in favor of a Venezuelan actress who is now his wife and the alleged victim of abuse. The prosecutor in the case is well known as Mirkarimi’s political adversary.

    The abuse allegations go back to a New Year’s Eve fight between Mirkarimi, 50, and his wife, Eliana Lopez, 36. According to court documents, Lopez went to a neighbor the next day and tearfully confided the story about a heated argument in which an enraged Mirkarimi grabbed her with such force it left a large bruise on her arm.

    Lopez didn’t report the incident to the police, but neighbor Ivory Madison did. According to court documents, Madison (identified as "the reporter") said she helped make a videotape of the story and Lopez’s bruised arm in case Lopez needed ammunition in a custody battle over the couple's son, Theo.

    According to her, Lopez said: "I told Ross I want to work on the marriage, we need help, I been telling him we need help and I’m going to use this just in case he wants to take Theo away from me because he did said (sic) that he is very powerful and can do it."

    District Attorney George Gascon is pursuing the case. On Jan. 13 — just days after Mirkarimi, Lopez and Theo appeared together in a glittering inauguration event — Gascon issued a warrant for Mirkarimi’s arrest on three misdemeanor charges: domestic violence battery, child endangerment (because the child was present for the dispute) and dissuading a witness.

    In a statement, San Francisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee called the charges against Mirkarimi "extremely serious and troubling." The mayor questioned Mirkarimi's ability to keep the sheriff's department running while juggling the legal case, but did not move to suspend him — which would require a vote by the Board of Supervisors. "I must also ensure that we do not take steps that undermine the integrity of the criminal justice proceedings underway," the statement said.

    Paul H. Fitzgerald, president of the National Sheriff’s Association, spoke to msnbc.com about the case, emphasizing that Mirkarimi is innocent unless the court decides otherwise. In the meantime, he said, the case will make it tougher in all his dealings -- with subordinates, politicians and constituents.

    "There’s certainly a taint to it … especially for the chief law enforcement authority,” he said. “He going to have a challenge because as I understand it he is new to the office. He didn’t come up through the ranks."

    Mirkarimi’s was elected in November after serving seven years on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, representing the Haight-Ashbury and Western Addition areas of the city. The son of an Iranian immigrant father and a Jewish-Russian immigrant mother, the sheriff is known for advocating environmental causes, legalization of marijuana, gun control and minority rights. He co-founded the Green Party of California in 1990, and worked for Ralph Nader's 2000 campaign for president. He left the Green Party to become a Democrat in 2010.

    In the run for sheriff, Mirkarimi touted his background as a police academy graduate and work as an investigator for the district attorney before his tenure on the Board of Supervisors. He was well known to voters, but his election victory came without much support from cops. The San Francisco Sheriff’s Association overwhelmingly endorsed his opponent, Capt. Paul Miyamoto — one of their own.

    "If the rank-and-file didn’t want you there, you’re starting at a deficit before you get some domestic abuse charges," said Josh Richmond, politics reporter for the Bay Area News Group. "I can’t imagine how their staff meetings are going."

    Mirkarimi's wife not cooperating
    Mirkarimi — who was released on $35,000 bail -- has denied the abuse charges. He has rejected the idea of taking leave while charges are pending, but said he would forego salary during the days spent on trial. He has been forced to turn over his guns to authorities.

    Lopez -- the alleged victim in the case -- rejects the case against her husband, and says he is the victim of a politically motivated attack. She has publicly protested the restraining order prohibiting Milkarimi from having contacting her and their son.

    Beck Diefenbach / Reuters

    Eliana Lopez, wife of San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi, talks to the press following the arraignment of her husband's domestic violence case at the San Francisco County Court House on Jan. 19. Lopez is protesting domestic abuse charges against her husband that keep him from contacting her or their son Theo, 2.

    Lopez reportedly said that the domestic abuse charges are part of an effort by "the richest people in California" to ruin her husband.

    "Everybody believes that politics in the United States is very transparent … It’s very dirty, really, and there are many hidden interests at play," she told the Venezuelan news website Noticias 24 when the charges were filed. The comments were translated and reported by the San Francisco Chronicle.

    But in California as in many states, the state can pursue domestic abuse charges even if the alleged victim does not or if the alleged victim files charges and then drops them — which is fairly common.

    Dueling politicians?
    Although Lopez provided no evidence of foul play, it’s hard to ignore the political dimensions of the case. The prosecutor, Gascon, who is a former police chief, and Mirkarimi, who is a former supervisor, have a history of public animosity — clashing over the handling of immigrants, profiling of Arab Americans, the use of foot patrols and other issues.

    "The clash between Gascon, 57, a conservative lawman, and Mirkarimi, 50, a lifelong progressive … has spawned a citywide game of speculation of whose political fortunes may benefit, or be ruined, by this showdown," The Bay Citizen reported. "It is almost impossible to separate the political aspects of the case from the legal issues."

    Adding to the intrigue, a former girlfriend of Mirkarimi’s came forward this week, offering to act as a witness in the abuse case. In a police report, the woman, who said she dated Mirkarimi in 2007 and 2008, said that he exhibited a “raging pit bull aggressiveness” toward her and that he had once grabbed her and pinned her against a wall, leaving her arm bruised.

    By her account, she and Mirkarimi parted ways in late 2008 after he admitted he had also been seeing a woman from Venezuela and that the woman was pregnant.

    In the police report, the ex-girlfriend's name is redacted, but she has been identified by news outlets as Christina Marie Flores, whose name also appears on the witness list for the abuse trial.

    A tyrant, but not an abuser?
    On Tuesday Mirkarimi’s attorney Robert Waggener, talking about the new allegations by Flores told a throng of reporters that his client was “a bit of a tyrant.”

    The comment was apparently intended to address Mirkarimi’s reputation for losing his temper with people — especially his staff. He told reporters that Mirkarimi has “a bombastic personality and occasionally he can be a bit of a tyrant, but he is no abuser.”

    On Wednesday, Mirkarimi retained Berkeley defense attorney Lidia Stiglich to replace Waggener for his defense, The Associated Press reported Thursday.

    On Thursday, the sheriff was scheduled to be in court seeking a modification of the judge's order to stay away from his wife and son. It was unclear whether his change of defense attorney’s would delay the effort.

    Mirkarimi’s abuse trial is scheduled for Feb. 24. If convicted he could face up to a year in jail.

    "He needs to have his day in court," said politics reporter Richmond, but he says the political prognosis is still iffy. "Some political consultants say he bungled it enough… by downplaying a serious accusation -- that even if he were to beat the charges… it’s cost him a lot of political capital."

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  • Bodies pile up at Cook County morgue; activists outraged

    Cook County officials say they are being forced to change morgue procedures due to an overflow of unclaimed bodies. Charlie Wojciechowski reports.

    By Dick Johnson and Michelle Relerford, NBCChicago.com

    CHICAGO – Outraged pastors and community activists on Friday descended upon the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office and called for an independent investigation after reports that bodies have been piling up for weeks.

    At least one activist openly called for the facility's director, Dr. Nancy L. Jones to step down.

    "Somebody needs to be held accountable for what happened," said Dawn Valenti, who works to help families find missing loved ones.

    Read original story at NBCChicago.com

    Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle a day earlier said Jones will remain -- for now -- but called for a top-to-bottom review of the facility.

    "This is a reminder of how my ancestors -- how the remains of our ancestors were treated like garbage," Peggy Hudgens said through tears at the building at 2121 W. Harrison St.

    Hudgens claimed to have been trying to resolve her brothers death and burial since October.

    The issue has been simmering for months, if not years. As many as 363 bodies were reportedly once collected in a cooler designed to hold just 300. Ministers gathered Friday to pray for the deceased and to call for justice.

    Anti-violence community activist Andrew Holmes was among the protesters and wondered aloud about the accountability of missing persons at the morgue.

    "We want those deceased finger-printed and identified. We still have a lot of missing, unclaimed and missing people that have not been found," he said.

    Holmes focused specifically on Carmelita Johnson, a woman who'd gone missing and was ultimately found in the facility. Her family said they tried to find her for more than a year. Johnson has since been buried.

    The Illinois Department of Labor said it's also opened an investigation into "worker safety issues."

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  • 8 sea lions found shot to death near Seattle

    By NBC News and msnbc.com staff

    SEATTLE -- At least eight sea lions have been found shot to death in the Puget Sound region in recent weeks, wildlife officials say.

    The bodies of seven sea lions were recently found on the Nisqually River, south of Tacoma, all apparently shot, NBC station KING 5 of Seattle reported. On Monday, a mature male California sea lion was found dead on West Seattle's Lincoln Park beach.

    During a necropsy, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife removed a bullet from the left lung of that sea lion, according to the animal protection group Seal Sitters, which keeps watch over baby seals left on the beach while their mothers are foraging.

    State and federal authorities are investigating, but they said they don't know who killed the sea lions. The penalty could range from fees to possible jail time.

    California sea lions are a protected species under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Stellar sea lions are a federally protected under the Endangered Species Act.

    Almost two years ago, five sea lions were found shot to death on West Seattle beaches. In that instance, the Humane Society offered a $2,500 reward for information leading to an arrest.

    Sea lions have proved to be pests in some parts of the Puget Sound. Extensive efforts have been used to prevent them from devouring salmon schooled at the ship locks that lead from Puget Sound into Seattle's Lake Union. Authorities have tried to scare those away with firecrackers, fired rubber bullets and bean bags at them, even captured and trucked them all the way to California. Sea lions that refused to take the hint have been killed by authorities.

    A photograph taken recently and published in the Seattle Times showed dozens of sea lions on an old barge near the north end of the Nisqually Delta, where the seven sea lions were found shot. 

    "This is the most sea lions I have ever seen at once in south sound," Pete Topping, a state Fish and Wildlife biologist, told the Times.

    Msnbc.com's Gil Aegerter contributed to this report from NBC station KING 5 of Seattle.

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  • Cops: 4-year-old brings nine bags of pot to school

    By msnbc.com staff

    A 4-year-old boy brought nine bags of pot to his elementary school and pulled them out during snack time, police said.

    A teacher at Hanover Elementary School in Meriden, Conn., alerted officials to the drug early Tuesday afternoon, according to a report in the Record-Journal.  Detective Lt. Mark Walerysiak, a police spokesman, told the newspaper that the child turned over the bags to his teacher.

    Walerysiak could not be reached for comment by msnbc.com on Friday.

    "The case remains under investigation," Walerysiak told the Record-Journal. The Department of Children and Families "was called in to also conduct an investigation."

    School Superintendent Mark D. Benigni called the event “isolated incident,” the newspaper said.

    “Our concern is for the 4-year-old student who had no knowledge of what he was bringing to school," Benigni said. "The student is safe and we will continue to ensure a safe learning environment to all of our students."

    He said the teacher was close to the child when he pulled the bags out of his coat pocket. No other student was involved, the Record-Journal reported.

    Benigni told the newspaper that the child was not at fault. "This is clearly an adult issue," he said.

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  • Feds: 'Mob Wives' dad charged in NYC racketeering case

    NBC New York

    DEA and FBI agents arrested four members of the Bonanno organized crime family early Friday for alleged crimes that include racketeering, gambling and drug sales, NBC New York has learned.

    By Joe Valiquette, NBCNewYork.com

    NEW YORK CITY -- DEA and FBI agents arrested four alleged members of the Bonanno organized crime family early Friday on charges that include racketeering, gambling and drug sales, NBC New York has learned.  The father of a "Mob Wives" reality show star was also charged in the federal case.

    Vincent Badalamenti, identified as a member of the Bonanno crime family administration, Nicholas Santora, a Bonanno family capo, Vito Balsamo, an acting captain, and Anthony Calabrese, a soldier, were arrested Friday and are are charged with racketeering, extortion, illegal gambling, and conspiracy to distribute marijuana, a law enforcement official said.

    Anthony Graziano -- a Bonanno family captain whose daughter Renee Graziano stars on the reality show  "Mob Wives" -- was also charged.  Graziano was already in custody on a prior conviction.

    Read original story on NBCNewYork.com

    Also arrested was James Laforte, an associate of the Gambino crime family, the official said.

    All five men entered pleas of not guilty in federal court.  Calabrese and Balsamo were released on $1.5 million bail, which includes home confinement and electronic monitoring. 

    Investigators used electronic and physical surveillance and cooperating witnesses in the investigation.

    If convicted, each defendant faces up to 20 years in prison.

    The arrests are the latest in the federal government's investigation of the Bonanno crime family which has resulted in the prosecution of more than 175 members and associates of the family, officials said.

    So far, more than 10 Bonanno family bosses, acting bosses and administration members have been convicted.

    The suspects are due back in court on Feb. 7.

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  • Authorities to end camping at Occupy DC sites; not 'eviction' but 'slow creep,' activist says

    Karen Bleier / AFP

    A view showing the Occupy DC encampment in McPherson Square in Washington, DC, on January 22, 2012.

    By Miranda Leitsinger, msnbc.com

    Federal park authorities in the nation's capital told Occupy protesters at two sites on Friday that they will begin enforcing park rules that prohibit camping -- a move seen by the activists as a "slow creep" aimed at whittling down their demonstration in Washington, DC.

    The National Park Service said in a flier that starting Monday at noon it will begin to enforce regulations prohibiting camping and the use of temporary structures for camping. Individual violators may be subject to arrest and their property subject to seizure as evidence, the flier said.

    Three officers will be on hand to monitor the situation, try to get protesters to comply and make arrests or seizures as needed, Carol Johnson, a NPS spokeswoman, told msnbc.com. Compliance entails removing all camping materials and leaving one side of all temporary structures open.

    “People can be there 24 hours a day, but they can’t live there, they can’t sleep there,” Johnson said. “This has been something in the works for some time. I mean what we’ve been trying to do is use measured and progressive means to get people into compliance.”

    “We still do back the First Amendment, and it is their right. It is not their right to camp. And ... we would, you know, support them if they came into compliance and they had a vigil and they had tents that were there for logistical or symbolic purposes,” she added. "They can occupy as a vigil but not camping."

    More than 80 arrests have occurred at the two sites, including for public urination, drunkenness, assault and drug use, she noted.

    Many of the Occupy camps were closed across the country last fall and early winter, and the sites in the nation's capital were two of the bigger outfits remaining. Occupy Wall Street, which was evicted in mid-November, holds its general assemblies in their former camp site, while other group meetings are held elsewhere.

    Justin Jacoby Smith, a 25-year-old activist with OccupyKSt, said that the protesters were conducting a 24-hour vigil in line with the NPS use guidelines for the site and that he thought people were "incorrectly" reading the NPS moves as an eviction notice.

    "I don’t think that’s what we’re dealing with here. I think what we’re seeing from the park police is a sort of very slow creep of their enforcement of this so-called no-camping rule," he said, adding that he thought the enforcement was also “just another part of that broader strategy of trying to whittle down the (protester) numbers slowly.”

    The Park Service noted that two "compliant" 24-hour First Amendment vigils have been running in Lafayette Park and near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial since the early 1980s. Johnson said they were "very small" vigils.

    The House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee held a hearing on Tuesday about the McPherson Square encampment.

    "Late is better than never," Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., chairman of the subcommittee on the District of Columbia, said in a statement after learning of the park service notice. "Lady Justice is blindfolded for a reason: so as not to see who is in front of her. I continue to wonder whether others who are 'camping' in national parks would have been afforded a 100-day grace period before the law was enforced."

     

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  • 'Barefoot Bandit' gets federal sentence to match state term

    The surfacing of emails in which the "Barefoot Bandit" bragged of his feats in stealing and flying airplanes and made fun of law enforcement authorities doesn't seem to have hurt his sentencing in federal court on Friday:

    The federal judge gave him 6 1/2 years in prison for his two-year international crime spree, a sentence that will run concurrently with a seven-year term he received last month in state court.

    Colton Harris-Moore pleaded guilty to numerous state and federal charges involving a string of break-ins and boat and plane thefts that began in Washington state and ended in the Bahamas in 2010.

    Before Friday's sentencing, defense attorneys said federal prosecutors released cherry-picked excerpts from emails in an effort to make Harris-Moore appear callous and self-aggrandizing.

    He called the Island County sheriff "king swine," called prosecutors "fools," and referred to reporters as "vermin." He also described his feats — stealing and flying planes with no formal training — "amazing" and said they were unmatched by anyone except the Wright brothers.

    Read more from The Associated Press here.

     

  • Doubts cast over Yale QB's Rhodes honor

    The New York Times' Richard Perez-Pena shares details from a report about the quiet collapse of Patrick Witt's Rhodes Scholar candidacy amidst claims of sexual assault.

    By Becky Bratu, msnbc.com

    Patrick Witt, the 22-year-old Yale quarterback who made headlines in November when he chose to lead Yale against arch rival Harvard University over an interview for the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship may not have been faced with that tough choice after all.

    According to a New York Times article, the Rhodes Trust suspended Witt's candidacy several days before he announced he had removed himself from consideration on Nov. 13, 2011.

    According to the article, the Rhodes Trust had learned several days earlier "through unofficial channels" that a Yale student had accused Witt of sexual assault.

    In a statement released Friday, Mark Magazu, Witt's agent, said,"The New York Times story incorrectly connects Patrick's decision to forego the Rhodes Scholarship with an informal complaint process that had concluded on campus weeks prior to his withdrawal – a process that yielded no disciplinary measures, formal reports, or referrals to higher authorities."

    Citing interviews with several unnamed sources “with knowledge of all or part of the story,” the Times reported a female Yale student approached the school’s assault response center in September alleging that Witt had sexually assaulted her in her dorm room. She later also made a complaint to the University-Wide Committee on Sexual Misconduct, according to the article.

    Students at Yale can file formal or informal complaints with this committee, and the university maintains confidentiality in both cases. Yale College Dean Mary Miller told the Yale Daily News that she is only notified of formal complaints.

    An informal complaint, which the Times reported was filed against Witt, leads to either brief or no investigation and can be resolved within a few days. Magazu's statement claims Witt's request to the sexual misconduct committee for a formal inquiry was denied because "there was nothing to defend against since no formal complaint was ever filed." Witt considered the matter closed.

    The statement claims Witt was aware an anonymous source had contacted the Rhodes Trust about the informal complaint. It goes on to say that Witt and the woman who filed the informal complaint had had an on-again, off-again relationship that began in the spring of 2011 and ended two months before the complaint was filed.

    Magazu's statement on behalf of Witt went on to say, "To be clear, Patrick's Rhodes candidacy was never "suspended", as the article suggests, and his official record at Yale contains no disciplinary issues."

    Elliot Gerson, the American secretary for the Rhodes Trust, declined to comment on whether Witt's candidacy was indeed suspended.

    Witt attended Commencement in May, 2011 and returned to Yale in the fall to complete his studies as a second-semester senior. He told the Yale Daily News on Jan. 8 that he had “already graduated,” but, according to the college paper, University spokesman Tom Conroy said Thursday night that Witt has not graduated. Conroy told NBC News that was not uncommon.

    According to the statement, Witt completed all necessary coursework and will graduate upon completing his senior essay this spring.

    Witt has been training in California in preparation for the Feb. 22-28 NFL Combine at Indianapolis, according to the Yale athletics website.

    Witt found out on Oct. 31, 2011 that he was one of the 212 finalists for the Rhodes Scholarship, which provides full financial support for scholars to pursue a degree at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. But the date of the mandatory interview in Atlanta coincided with "The Game," a longstanding football rivalry between Harvard and Yale taking place in New Haven, Conn.

    Witt, the most accurate passer in Yale University history, spoke with NBC Nightly News in early November about the tough decision he was facing.

    "It's thrilling," Witt said at the time, "but, again, it's a big dilemma."

    On the one hand, the opportunity to be a Rhodes Scholar, Witt said, is tremendous. “And it is a difficult process. There are plenty of excellent candidates every year that aren’t selected, so that’s one part of it,” he said.

    On the other, the game against Harvard would be Witt’s last college game. “And I’ve invested a lot of time. This is a sport I’ve been playing since I was a kid.”

    Witt, a history major with a 3.91 grade point average, told Nightly News he wanted to study international relations at Oxford in preparation for a career in politics. "At the end of the day, the best advice I've been given is ‘this is your decision and you have to do what's right for you,’” he said at the time.

    Witt transferred to Yale in 2009 from the University of Nebraska, where he had a four-year athletic scholarship as a quarterback for the Cornhuskers. While the football was challenging, Witt told Nightly News he felt frustrated in the classroom.

    The Texas native graduated from high school early and enrolled at Nebraska in January 2007, where he participated in spring drills. He prepared as Nebraska’s No. 3 quarterback throughout the year, but redshirted. Off the field, Witt posted a 4.0 grade-point average.

    In December 2007, Witt was arrested on suspicion of trespassing in a student dorm, third-degree assault by menacing threats, and possession of a false ID, according to an article published in the Lincoln Journal Star. The paper reported Witt signed in with a different name and went up to a floor without waiting to be escorted.

    Police told the paper Witt pushed a dorm resident assistant several times, making threatening remarks. Police told the paper Witt also showed signs of alcohol intoxication and his blood alcohol content was 0.115.

    The Times reported a second arrest came in New Haven in 2010 for third-degree criminal trespass and was sparked by a disagreement when Witt was denied entry into Toad's Place, a club near the Yale campus.

    In the statement released on his behalf, Witt's agent wrote that "Patrick respects the academic traditions of both Yale and the Rhodes Trust, and he remains grateful for the opportunities each has afforded him." 

    In an appearance Friday on MSNBC’s NewsNation, Times education reporter Richard Perez-Pena, who wrote the article, defended the reporting. While anonymous, the sources are “unimpeachable,” he said.

    Several comments on the Times website had criticized the story as “lazy reporting” and “sensationalism.” The story “was filled with innuendo and numerous anonymous sources,” a commenter called Lillian wrote.

    “Had [Witt] not been a Rhodes candidate, this isn’t something that we would have reported on,” Perez-Pena said. 

     

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