Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio barely moved as he hunched forward in a dark suit, stared directly at the federal judge and seemed to hang on his every word.
With good reason.
U.S. District Judge G. Murray Snow was telling him Thursday that there was “a very real possibility” he would refer the popular sheriff to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for criminal prosecution on contempt-of-court charges, later noting, “I fully intend to.”
It was the latest showdown in a class-action civil-rights case that has dragged on since 2007.
