SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- Suspended San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi likely won't be able to remove City Attorney Dennis Herrera from his case based on a preliminary ruling handed down Wednesday afternoon.

The sheriff, who is serving an unpaid suspension after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge in connection with a fight that left his wife bruised, had asked the court to remove Herrera from the proceedings.  Mirkarimi is trying to get his job back in advance of an Ethics Commission and Board of Supervisors vote on whether he committed official misconduct.

"Because the City Attorney is representing the Mayor in his official capacity with respect to actions he took on behalf of the City in accordance with a provision of the Charter authorizing the Mayor to take such actions, the City Attorney is not barred from representing the Mayor in this case," Judge Harold Kahn wrote in the preliminary ruling. "The retention of outside counsel by the Ethics Commission and the Board of Supervisors moots Petitioner's argument that there is a conflict between the City Attorney's representations of the Mayor in this case and the City Attorney's representation of the Ethics Commission and the Board of Supervisors with respect to the official misconduct charges against Petitioner."

Mikarimi is also asking the court to reinstate his pay which was cut off when Mayor Ed Lee suspended him.

Stay tuned to KRON 4 and KRON4.com for complete coverage of the Mirkarimi case.

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