Crazy Uncle Joe Arpaio admits civil contempt, trying to avoid prosecution

Stephen Lemons of the Phoenix New Times has the latest on Crazy Uncle Joe Arpaio and his pending contempt hearing before U.S. District Court Judge G. Murray Snow. Joe Arpaio Admits Guilt in Civil Contempt Case, Seeks to Avoid April Hearing:

In a bombshell filing in federal court Tuesday, Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his Chief Deputy Jerry Sheridan admitted that they are guilty of civil contempt, in a blatant attempt to avoid an upcoming civil trial before U.S. District Court Judge G. Murray Snow.

Since earlier this year, when Snow ordered a four day civil contempt hearing to address allegations that Arpaio and four former and current aides have disobeyed the judge’s orders in the ACLU’s big racial profiling case, Melendres v. Arpaio, the sheriff and his co-defendants have sought to wiggle out of the de facto trial, scheduled for April.

Arpaio, et al. have sought assurances that the civil charges would not be forwarded to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for possible criminal action, and have tried to settle the matter with the plaintiffs in the case, all to no avail.

Now, Arpaio and Sheridan are admitting wrongdoing, promising to make good, and pleading for mercy from Judge Snow.

Their motion states, in part that:

The purpose of this Motion is to convey to the Court and to Plaintiffs that Defendants Joseph M. Arpaio and Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, and identified nonparty Chief Deputy Gerard Sheridan (collectively, “Defendants”) consent to a finding of civil contempt against them and the imposition of remedies designed to address their conduct. Under these circumstances, a 4-day evidentiary hearing, which would cost the county taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars, and which would consume significant time of the Court, is unnecessary.

* * *

The facts, with respect to each of these areas, have been discussed in detail in the Order to Show Cause and the Plaintiffs’ Memorandum of Law and Facts re Contempt Proceedings and Request for Order to Show Cause. Defendants do not intend to present any arguments or evidence which materially dispute these facts.

Arpaio and Sheridan ask for the April hearing to be vacated and that they be punished, forthwith.

Wow. So what’s going on here? This latest development was discussed among some attorneys and, for what it’s worth, the consensus view is that Arpaio’s attorneys are trying to keep him from facing perjury charges if he takes the stand, or admitting to lying to the public, or both.  None of us are involved in this case, so this is our best observation.

Lemons provides a brief history of the case:

See, in 2013, following a lengthy bench trial, Snow found Arpaio and the MCSO guilty of racial profiling against Hispanics in Maricopa County, in addition to other constitutional violations.

Ultimately, Snow ordered a laundry list of reforms and appointed a monitor, Robert Warshaw, to oversee their implementation.

But the (alleged) May 2014 suicide of MCSO deputy Raymond “Charley” Armendariz revealed a world of corruption within the MCSO, especially in the agency’s notorious Human Smuggling Unit, of which Armendariz had been a part.

Armendariz came under scrutiny after an emergency call to his home revealed a stash of illicit drugs. The deputy was arrested and later resigned from the MCSO. A few days later, he was found dead by hanging.

In Armendariz’s home, investigators also had discovered hundreds of confiscated IDs, wallets, purses and other personal items, supposedly taken from the people Armendariz had stopped.

Detectives also found countless hours of video footage of vehicle stops made by Armendariz.

Snow was informed of the discoveries, and that the videotaping of stops was a widespread practice in the sheriff’s office.

* * *

Snow later learned that Arpaio was aware of Sheridan’s activities. The judge ordered his monitor to investigate.

But the MCSO continued to buck Warshaw, defying his attempt to probe other corruption in the MCSO ranks, including allegations that deputies shook down illegal immigrants.

The fallout from the Armendariz scandal also implicated MCSO brass in allegations that evidence had not been properly turned over during discovery, and, significantly, that despite a preliminary injunction from Snow in late 2011, ordering the MCSO not to enforce civil immigration law, the MCSO’s Human Smuggling Unit continued to do so.

Asked about Arpaio and Sheridan’s recent admissions in Melendres, ACLU of Arizona attorney Dan Pochoda declined to comment, stating that the ACLU had only just begun taking depositions of MCSO personnel ordered by the court.

To my friends at the ACLU I would argue against any deal that lets Arpaio and the MCSO off the hook. You should object to Arpaio’s motion, and proceed with discovery and the contempt hearing as scheduled. I suspect you have the rat caught in a trap, and  gnawing off his leg by agreeing to civil contempt is his only way out. Too many people have been harmed by Crazy Uncle Joe Arpaio over the years to let him slip out of the trap again.

As Lemons concludes, “this court filing, on the whole, shows just how desperate Arpaio is to avoid that civil hearing and a possible criminal referral to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.  Meaning that Arpaio’s guilty as sin, of course.”

Unless this case proceeds to an evidentiary hearing, we may never know. Maybe justice will finally be served.