Arpaio again denies targeting federal judge in investigation

When U.S. District Judge G. Murray Snow questioned Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio under oath in April, the lawman’s testimony created yet another legal headache for his embattled agency.

Arpaio’s replies were murky and lacked resolve, but one thing was clear: Arpaio’s office had, in fact, hired a confidential informant named Dennis Montgomery.

Arpaio returned to the witness stand Thursday to field accusations that he used Montgomery to investigate Snow, the federal judge presiding over his office's racial-profiling case.

Snow, as he did in April, took his turn directly grilling Arpaio about the Montgomery investigation.

In what was his fourth day on stand during this round of civil-contempt proceedings, Arpaio fielded blunt challenges to his April testimony and his actions following those earlier hearings.

Snow focused on a handful of details surrounding the Montgomery investigation, specifically questioning Arpaio about how he dealt with the judge’s order to turn over all evidence linked to the probe. By July, 50 related computer hard drives still had not been released, prompting Snow to order U.S. Marshals to seize them from the Sheriff's Office.

Arpaio said he might have had a conversation with his defense attorneys about it, but he couldn't recall if he directly gave an order to anyone at the office about it.

"The only way I can answer that (is) I wanted that order to be followed," Arpaio said after Snow repeatedly pressed for specifics.

"You in your mind wanted that order to be followed?" Snow asked.

"I think they all knew," Arpaio said.

"You just assumed that they knew that you wanted that carried out?" Snow clarified again.

Arpaio conceded that no, he did not write any memos.

The judge on Thursday additionally asked why Arpaio in April denied that he knew of anyone investigating Snow.

“You were aware that Mr. Montgomery had investigated me, weren’t you?” Snow asked.

“I don’t think there was any investigation,” Arpaio said. “He just came up with a flow chart.”

According to Arpaio's testimony last week, there was good reason Snow’s name kept surfacing in work products linked to Montgomery. Arpaio had been told the judge was the victim of an elaborate bank-hacking scheme run by the federal government.

Defense attorney John Masterson didn't belabor this defense on Thursday in roughly an hour of questioning.

He instead aimed to demonstrate that it was typical for law enforcement to employ confidential informants with questionable reputations.

The defense attorney additionally latched onto Chief Deputy Jerry Sheridan's primary argument when deflecting questions about Montgomery. Sheridan has repeatedly testified that it was Montgomery, not sheriff's officials, who introduced Snow into the investigative equation.

Sheridan said that when the topic arose, he unequivocally ordered investigators not to pursue it. Arpaio testified that he reiterated this order to his investigators.

Masterson cut to the chase, asking Arpaio: "Did you ever investigate Judge Snow?"

"No," Arpaio replied.

Arpaio's succinct defense was the same when Masterson asked if he ordered a posse member, an investigator or Montgomery himself to investigate Snow.