Luke Thomas/Fog City Journal

San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi with his wife, Eliana Lopez

Updated Jan. 26, 2011 8:41 a.m.

A former girlfriend and a neighbor are among the people who will testify as witnesses in San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi's domestic violence trial next month. Mirkarimi's wife, Eliana Lopez, and seven police officers are also on the prosecution's witness list, which was released Wednesday.

Also Wednesday, Robert Waggener, Mirkarimi's attorney since the investigation began, said he is no longer representing Mirkarimi. Mirkarimi's new lawyer is Lidia Stiglich, who has defended public officials, including law enforcement officers, in high-profile cases.

Stiglich told The Bay Citizen in an email Wednesday night, "We are confident that Sheriff Mirkarimi will be absolved of all charges once the facts of this case are separated from rumor, innuendo and regrettably, attention seekers."

A key witness will be Ivory Madison, a neighbor whose phone call to police initiated the investigation against Mirkarimi. On Jan. 1, Madison recorded video of a conversation with Lopez and of a bruise Lopez said she received during an argument with Mirkarimi on Dec. 31, according to court documents. Madison reported the incident to police on Jan. 4, but refused to give them the video, the documents show.

According to a police affidavit, officers later obtained a search warrant for the video camera and for Madison's iPhone, which contained text messages from Lopez.

Madison's husband, Abraham Mertens, an attorney, is also on the list. Mertens is vice president and general counsel for Redroom.com, a social networking and marketing site for authors that Madison founded in 2007.

The police affidavit quotes a second, unnamed neighbor with whom Lopez had spoken about the New Year’s Eve incident. Several neighbors are on the witness list, including Callie Williams, Mike McCully and Lauren McCully.

Christina Marie Flores, who filed a police report over the weekend alleging that Mirkarimi had abused her while they were dating more than three years ago, will also be asked to testify.

One of the police officers on the witness list is Inspector John Keane, a 20-year veteran of the San Francisco Police Department who is assigned to the domestic violence response unit. Keane is the officer who answered Madison's phone call on Jan. 4.

The list also includes Nancy Lemon, an expert on domestic violence issues and a lecturer at Berkeley Law.

Stephanie Ong Stillman, a spokeswoman for the District Attorney's office, declined to comment about the witness list Wednesday, citing the ongoing investigation.

Stiglich, Mirkarimi’s new attorney, will make her first appearance in court Thursday, when Mirkarimi tries to convince a judge to lift an order barring him from having any contact with his wife and their 2-year-old son, Theo.

Stiglich's past clients include Julie Lee, a former San Francisco political organizer who was convicted in 2008 of mail fraud and witness tampering after FBI and state officials questioned whether she had laundered $125,000 into the successful campaign of Kevin Shelley, the former California Secretary of State, who resigned in 2005.