The Sunset's former supervisor, Ed Jew of Burlingame, was stripped of title and office in 2007 following two investigations and multiple charges brought against him: one for failing to comply with residency requirements for his position, and the second for accepting $40,000 in FBI-marked bills as a bribe to help the awful tapioca/desert cafe Quickly set up shop in another location in his district. The news comes out now that the lawyer Jew hired to represent him in the federal bribe case was also the lawyer who initially brought the case to the FBI. What is going on here? Is there only one lawyer in this town who happened to print enough business cards for the year?

Conflict of interest issues notwithstanding, Jew's current representation wants to throw out the judgement in the federal case because his former representation was understandably compromised. Although ethically speaking, I would be uncomfortable if my attorney was directly responsible for the charges being brought against me, Ed Jew really made his bed (having been told, before a witness, that Gruel had prior involvement with the case)... so why shouldn't he be forced to lay in it? If you watch as much Law & Order as I do, you'll recognize this as a common last-ditch effort to toss out or reduce a major charge - but what's kind of scary is that this is San Francisco, and our motto is essentially "Casos Vigesimos Damus" (we give twentieth chances) *, and you have to shoot a cop, unprovoked, while he is trying to offer you a cupcake, and then make a hat out of a baby, in order to get set to the slammer.

* And yes... I did have someone translate that into Latin. Doesn't that show my blogger dedication??