Sheriff Arpaio Trial: Lawyers Make Closing Arguments

After 24 hours of being the top lawman in Maricopa County, 85-year-old Joe Arpaio finds himself in an unusual position: waiting for a judge to decide his fate. Lawyers for both sides made their closing arguments in front of the judge who will decide whether Arpaio intentionally violated a judge's order by continuing patrols that racially profiled Latinos.

While government lawyers argue that Arpaio intentionally ignored the judge's ruling as a strategic part of his reelection campaign, his lawyers say that the judge's order was unenforceable because it didn't take into account the work his deputies were doing to help immigration enforcement.

It's a dramatic turn for the man who often referred to himself as "America's Toughest Sheriff" and set up a tent city to house inmates. He was voted out of office last year after residents grew tired of his legal problems and perceived stunts like investigating President Obama's birth certificate.

A judge had ruled in 2011 that Arpaio's deputies had to stop targeting immigrants. Arpaio kept the patrols going for months in defiance of the order.

The actual charge is misdemeanor contempt of court. If he's convicted, he could face six months in jail. (Subscribe to local news alerts on Patch).

Arpaio, who was ousted from office in November after 24 years, had spent a lot of energy over the previous nine years focusing on immigration.

His patrols attracted the attention of civil rights groups and eventually the federal government.

In 2007, a group of Latinos brought a suit charging Arpaio was having his deputies target them because of their ethnicity.

Judge Murray Snow, in 2013, ruled that was exactly what had been happening. He said at the time that Arpaio was ignoring the ruling as a political move and asked the United States Attorney's Office to file criminal contempt charges against him.

Arpaio's lawyers argue that he was just doing his job - enforcing the immigration laws.

He has even subpoenaed Attorney General Jeff Sessions in an effort to highlight his belief that he was doing what the Justice Department now says is policy.

The Justice Department, though, successfully moved to quash the subpoena.

If convicted, Arpaio does face six months in jail.

Photo via Charley Gallay/Stringer/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images