National media coverage of Arizona’s toughest-talking sheriff’s contempt trial paints a subdued portrait of Joe Arpaio, infamous for his ruthless opposition to illegal immigration, describing him as a “quiet, almost deferential,” “humble and weary retiree.” While some suggest the personality flip may signal the fall of a hero for the…
While Sheriff Joe Arpaio was testifying in federal court last week in his civil contempt trial, there’s been movement in another lawsuit that could cause more trouble for Arpaio and taxpayers. Last January, as part of Arpaio’s crusade to arrest unauthorized immigrants in workplace raids, the Sheriff’s Office actually went…
Deputy Sean Pearce was ineligible for defensive-driving class because his speeding ticket involved a fatality, a Glendale judge found earlier this month. Pearce, a Maricopa County Sheriff’s office detective and son of recalled state lawmaker Russell Pearce, had been going 81 mph in a 40-mph-zone while tracking a murder suspect…
Here’s my pick for the most ridiculous quote from MCSO Chief Deputy Jerry Sheridan’s testimony in federal court Friday, during day-four of his and Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s civil contempt trial in downtown Phoenix: “It depends on how you define, `investigated your wife,'” said Sheridan, his face redder than a pack…
In my line of work, it doesn’t get much better than a federal judge’s handing your column to a public official, and getting the accused pol to confirm the column’s facts, one by one, under oath. This is what happened on day three of Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s civil contempt trial,…
Think To Kill a Mockingbird’s Atticus Finch doing Jedi mind tricks on an addled Emperor Palpatine. That’s what Stanley Young, the plaintiffs’ lead attorney in the ACLU’s big civil rights case Melendres v. Arpaio, resembled as he interrogated Sheriff Joe Wednesday afternoon during day two of Joe’s civil contempt trial…
MCSO Sergeant Brett Palmer sang like Pavarotti on the stand Tuesday afternoon during his boss Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s civil contempt trial, laying the blame for the MCSO’s defiance of a federal court’s orders directly at his jefe’s feet. Dressed in civilian attire, Palmer, who once helped manage the MCSO’s now-defunct…
Wacko bigot preacher Brother Dean Saxton and a crew of fellow jerks harass the mosque in Tempe I hate giving morons free publicity, but sometimes it’s necessary to spotlight the stupid as a sort of public service. Such is the case with Tucson’s notorious “slut-shaming” street preacher Brother Dean Saxton,…
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, is celebrating Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s jails. Of course, PETA’s not celebrating the jails for its treatment of human beings, but for how Arpaio’s compassionate to animals for implementing a vegan diet at the jails. Never mind the photo at…
The trial of ex-Minuteman leader Chris Simcox on allegations that he molested two young girls in 2013 was put on hold Thursday by an Arizona Supreme Court Justice, at least till the end of this month. At issue is whether the 54 year-old Simcox, who is representing himself, will be…
Videos released by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office show a jail inmate beating up multiple detention officers and the foul interior of a Wittman hoarder’s home. Both are newsworthy and, well, just darned interesting to watch. In the first, shot two weeks ago by a surveillance video in the Lower…
Maricopa County will pay $3.5 million for one of Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s mishandled rape investigations. The county Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 on Wednesday to approve the settlement for a Valley family who sued in Superior Court over the botched case. The case of Sabrina Morrison was one of hundreds…
Three Valley strip clubs are being sued by exotic dancers with the help of a Texas law firm over alleged unpaid tips and wages. The various plaintiffs in the cases are being represented by Kennedy Hodges LLP of Houston, which is engaged in dozens of similar cases across the United…
Federal Judge G. Murray Snow recently told Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio that he wanted the sheriff to have some “skin in the game” in regards to an upcoming civil contempt trial of Arpaio and four other current and former MCSO honchos set for April 21-24. But when it comes…
A three-judge panel of the Arizona Court of Appeals has declined to halt a pending trial, where accused child molester and ex-Minuteman leader Chris Simcox will be allowed to cross-examine his alleged child victims. After a telephonic hearing held Monday, Judges Margaret Downie, Patricia Norris and Randall Howe refused to…
Former Minuteman leader and accused child molester Chris Simcox started his Thursday in Maricopa County Superior Court trying to get Judge Jose Padilla kicked off his case, claiming Padilla favored the prosecution, was a member of La Raza, and therefore was biased against him. Simcox’s request quickly was denied by…
Alleged child molester, ex-Minuteman jefe, and one-time Republican U.S. Senate candidate Chris Simcox is demanding that a Maricopa County superior court judge allow him to interrogate his alleged child victims in an upcoming trial. In a recently filed motion, Simcox, 54, rejected the county attorney’s attempt to shield the girls,…
U.S. Senator John McCain says in a new fundraising pitch that he hasn’t decided whether to run for a sixth term in the upper chamber of Congress. But he has decided that he wants whatever you got in your wallet, pally. Twenty-five simoleons? Why, that’ll do nicely. I mean, it’s…
Note: Please see update on Friday’s hearing below. Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s former lawyer Tim Casey doesn’t want to tell what he knows about Arpaio’s contemptuous conduct in the ACLU’s big racial profiling case Melendres v. Arpaio, so he’s invoking attorney-client privilege to avoid subpoenas and discovery requests in the case…
Three disgraced, former Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office leaders have lost their appeal of a failed lawsuit against officials including their former boss, Joe Arpaio. Tuesday’s 3-0 ruling by the Arizona Court of Appeals rips the incompetent claims of David Hendershott, Larry Black, Joel Fox and their Montana lawyer, Ed Moriarity,…
During a hearing in federal court in Phoenix on Friday, Judge G. Murray Snow said more than once that Sheriff Joe Arpaio would have to have “skin in the game” as part of any settlement agreement in contempt allegations against Arpaio and four current and former high-ranking MCSO deputies. Snow…
So what do you do if you’ve just undercut more than two decades of selling yourself to the public as “America’s Toughest Sheriff” with a groveling admission to a federal judge that you’re guilty of civil contempt and are ready to bend over for punishment? If you’re Sheriff Joe Arpaio,…
