Mayor Lee Won't Face Perjury Investigation, D.A. Says

It looks like the perjury charge against Mayor Ed Lee will soon fade into insignificance. District Attorney George Gascón this week maintained his position that that there isn't enough evidence to pursue an investigation. Meanwhile, the Ethics Commission has ruled that it will not issue subpoenas for the people allegedly involved in the perjury accusation, because the charges are irrelevant to its main purpose of determining whether Ross Mirkarimi should be permanently booted from his post as county sheriff.

So the charge is stuck in international waters, as both sides with the power to go after Lee insist that the ball is in the other's court. The D.A. says he needs more information; the body with the ability to get that information says that it is not their responsibility to get it.

"It's a matter for the [D.A.], not something for us to decide," Commissioner Benedict Hur said at a hearing last week. "The issue is too collateral to merit additional testimony."

The charges stemmed from Lee's June 29 testimony at Mirkarimi's Ethics Commission hearing, when Lee argued that Mirkarimi should be removed from office for a false imprisonment conviction connected to a domestic dispute with his wife. Lee believes Mirkarimi was trying to hide the incident from the public. But Mirkarimi's legal team claims that Lee lied twice on the stand.


http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2012/07/george_gascon_wont_persue_ed_l.php