Big day for Ed Jew

Update at 11:51 a.m. PDT Oct. 19: San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera indeed plans to sue “at the earliest opportunity,” according to the Fog City Journal. Neither of the print dailies have anything on their Web sites about it yet, but local newswire Bay City News probably has it, so you news junkies can expect the basics to appear via BCN on various sites within a couple of hours.

Also, other sources report that Stuart Hanlon now represents Ed Jew, and Jew’s trial on charges of fraud and perjury is set to start [Correx: get a new start date] Nov. 5.

New lawyers, new hearings and a potential fourth front for his legal troubles: It all adds up to a big day today for suspended San Francisco Supervisor Ed Jew.

A hearing is scheduled this morning for Jew to name a new lawyer in his criminal trial on charges that he lied about living in the city’s District 4 while running for office and representing the district on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He is alleged to have lived in the San Mateo County town of Burlingame instead. Earlier this month, lawyer Bill Fazio asked to be removed from Jew’s case because of “irreconcilable differences” (see earlier post, “Ed Jew lawyer bails”). In the meantime, Steven Gruel has continued to represent Jew in defense against felony charges filed by San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris. Both San Francisco daily newspapers report today that Stuart Hanlon will take over the case for Jew.

At 1:30 this afternoon, the San Francisco Ethics Commission will meet for a preliminary hearing on city administrative accusations of official misconduct also related to Jew’s residency. These are the charges that are directly related to Mayor Gavin Newsom’s decision to suspend the supervisor and name Carmen Chu to fill Jew’s post on the board.

Yesterday, California Attorney General Jerry Brown granted permission for San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera to pursue civil court action against Jew, also on charges that he lied about where he lived.