Joe Arpaio Saga Isn’t Over: Judge Trying to Defy President’s Pardon?

[U.S. District Court Judge Susan] Bolton on Tuesday stopped short of throwing out the conviction based solely on [Sheriff Joe] Arpaio’s request. Instead she ordered Arpaio and the U.S. Department of Justice, which is prosecuting the case, to file briefs on why she should or shouldn’t grant Arpaio’s request.

Arpaio’s attorneys asked Bolton on Monday to vacate Arpaio’s conviction in light of President Donald Trump’s Friday pardon. . .

Mark Goldman, one of Arpaio’s attorneys, said, “We look forward to the hearing, and hope that the court will make the appropriate ruling. The verdict should have been set aside by the court already and prior to the pardon for the reason that it was never delivered to Sheriff Arpaio in open court, but instead sent to his attorneys via email, thus violating his constitutional rights to a public trial and to participate in his trial” . . .

Arpaio’s attorneys on Monday also called on media companies that have inaccurately reported the nature of Arpaio’s criminal conviction to issue corrections “in a manner comparable to that of the original publication.” In a statement, his attorneys noted the ex-sheriff “was not convicted for ‘racial profiling,’ ” noting the conviction “had nothing to do with race.”

“It’s not just TV, it’s elected officials,” Arpaio told The Arizona Republic Monday. “You’ve got one guy here … calling me a racist, calling the president a racist. You’ve got others saying I was charged of racial profiling. That’s untrue … and my lawyer is concerned with these derogatory, slanderous statements that are going around.” (Read more from “Joe Arpaio Saga Isn’t Over: Judge to Decide If His Conviction Stands” HERE)

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