Adithya Sambamurthy/The Bay Citizen

Mattie Scott and Paulette Brown speak to reporters outside the Department of Justice in support of Ross Mirkarimi on Jan. 26, 2012

A rally in support of San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi, scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Thursday afternoon outside the Hall of Justice, was canceled at the last minute.

Mirkarimi is set to return to court later Thursday to ask a judge to lift a stay-away order barring him from having any contact with his wife, Eliana Lopez, and their 2-year-old son, Theo. Mirkarimi is facing three misdemeanor charges, including domestic violence battery, for allegedly bruising Lopez during an argument on Dec. 31.

The rally was canceled shortly after a handful of supporters and a larger group of reporters and photographers gathered on the steps of the Hall. Raquel Fox, a lawyer for the Tenderloin Housing Clinic, told the crowd that Mirkarimi's new attorney, Lidia Stiglich, did not want the rally to take place.

Stiglich became Mirkarimi's attorney Wednesday; Mirkarimi had been represented by Robert Waggener.

Organizers of the rally had told reporters that Lopez would attend the event.