Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi will return to court again on Friday to try and win back his right to see his 2-year-old son, Theo. Twice, a judge has denied his request to lift the stay-away order, which has barred him from having contact with his wife, Eliana Lopez, and his son, after an alleged domestic violence incident.
But Mirkarimi's lawyer, Lidia Stiglich, filed paperwork in court Monday, arguing that the only trauma in this relationship is that Theo has been torn away from his father, whom he misses dearly.
The stay-away order was issued last month after Mirkarimi was charged with three misdemeanors, including battery, child endangerment, and dissuading a witness. Mirkarimi has denied he abused his wife during a New Year's Eve dispute.
Regardless, Stiglich told reporters that Mirkarimi has taken counseling classes, and is taking these allegations "very seriously."
But prosecutors are arguing that Mirkarimi, who was sworn in as sheriff on Jan. 8, should not be allowed to visit his son, and cited multiple, damning text messages that came from his wife after the New Year's Eve fight. Those messages allegedly indicate that Mirkarimi had neglected Theo.
Prosecutors read an October e-mail from Lopez, where she stated she didn't want to leave Theo alone with her husband because he was "not being fed, vomiting, being
left in a car."
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