Motion Seeks Removal of Arpaio-Case Judge

Photo Credit: WND A federal judge hearing the contempt of court case against Maricopa, Arizona, County Sheriff Joe Arpaio on Friday stayed further proceedings until a dispute over his involvement in the case is resolved.

Judge G. Murray Snow’s decision came after a second motion for his removal arrived in U.S. District Court. An earlier motion, filed by attorney Larry Klayman of Freedom Watch on behalf of a whistleblower who was drawn into the Arpaio case, Dennis Montgomery, was rejected both by Snow and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals . . .

At the center of the effort to remove the judge from the case is a statement from a witness, Karen Morris Grissom, who told the sheriff the judge hates him. The witness explained to Arpaio that she was a childhood friend of the judge’s wife . . .

[Listen to an update from one of the attorneys involved in the case on the effort to eject the federal judge]

The latest effort to remove Snow came from A. Melvin McDonald and Michele Iafrate, who have been representing Arpaio in a case that stemmed from claims the sheriff failed to follow the court’s orders regarding his department’s policing procedures.

“No doubt, moving for the recusal or disqualification of any sitting judge is a serious matter,” their motion stated. “Under statute, case law, and judicial canons, the perception of judicial bias and the appearance of impropriety, punctuated by the material witness status of the presiding judge’s spouse, mandate the recusal and disqualification of the Honorable G. Murray Snow. (Read more from “Motion Seeks Removal of Arpaio-Case Judge” HERE)

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