Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Witness Logistics topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Ethics Commission preliminarily admits Lopez video, weighs airfare and remote testimony for Caracas-based witness
Summary
At a special Ethics Commission hearing on official-misconduct charges, commissioners preliminarily admitted a video from sheriff’s witness Eliana Lopez and set deadlines for objections; counsel for Lopez asked the mayor’s office to cover an estimated $1,500 round-trip airfare from Caracas so Lopez can testify in person, with Skype as a fallback.
The San Francisco Ethics Commission on Tuesday preliminarily admitted a video by Eliana Lopez and debated whether the city should cover travel costs so Lopez—whose declaration was submitted by the sheriff—can testify in person. Counsel for Lopez, Paula Canney, told commissioners the cheapest round-trip coach fare from Caracas with a two-week lead time would be roughly $1,500 and urged the commission to try to secure payment so Lopez can be cross-examined in person.
The commission’s chair said declarations from witnesses who do not submit to cross-examination receive “little to no weight” and that live testimony generally gives a declaration more weight. The mayor’s counsel, Mr. Keith, said the mayor’s office would normally expect defense witnesses to pay for their own travel but would consider Canney’s request and take it to the mayor.
Why it matters: Commissioners repeatedly emphasized that cross-examination materially affects how much weight the commission will give sworn declarations in making factual findings and recommendations to the Board of Supervisors. The admitted video and the opportunity to cross-examine Lopez could shift how the commission evaluates both Lopez’s statements and the broader record in the mayor’s official‑misconduct charges against the sheriff.
What the commission decided and scheduled: The commission set a July 10 deadline for objections to Lopez’s declaration and July 17 for any responses from the sheriff’s side. The chair preliminarily admitted the Lopez video after concluding it met hearsay-exception criteria (the chair cited it as an “excited utterance” and relevant to physical-injury evidence). Commissioners asked both sides to work on logistics for live testimony and to identify which parts of expert and lay declarations need to be narrowed for the record.
Quotes from the hearing: “With a couple like, 2 weeks advance notice, a regular coach ticket round trip from Caracas to here, you’re looking at roughly $1,500,” Paula Canney said, urging the city to consider covering travel costs. The chair cautioned, “any witness who does not appear for testimony, the declaration is going to receive little to no weight.”
Next steps: The mayor’s counsel said he would speak to the mayor and report back shortly; if the city will not pay, counsel for Lopez said Skype testimony is a fallback although she expressed reluctance about reliability. The commission will take any logistical plan and status updates at its next scheduled session and will evaluate the declared evidence after live testimony and cross-examination occur.
