Appeals Court denies Sheriff Joe Arpaio's bid to remove judge

A panel of three judges has denied Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s bid to remove a federal judge presiding over a long-running racial-profiling case against the office.

The Tuesday decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals comes a week before contempt-of-court hearings against the six-term lawman are scheduled to resume. The court additionally denied Arpaio’s motion that would have delayed the hearings.

A statement released on Arpaio's official Twitter page Tuesday evening said the office is "exploring all of our options" following the appeals-court decision, including relief from the U.S. Supreme Court.

Arpaio had asked the appeals court to disqualify U.S. District Judge G. Murray Snow from the case, alleging that Snow was unable to act as an independent arbitrator.

At the outset of the contempt-of-court hearings in April, Snow questioned Arpaio on two separate investigations that seemed to link to Snow.

One involved a comment allegedly made by Snow’s wife that Snow wanted to ensure that Arpaio wasn't reelected. Another involved a computer expert hired by the Sheriff's Office named Dennis Montgomery. Snow has questioned whether Montgomery was hired to cook up a conspiracy between Snow and the Department of Justice, who was pressing their own racial-profiling claims against Arpaio.

Arpaio’s office has denied that it was investigating Snow.

But Snow’s line of questioning prompted the sheriff’s attorneys to challenge whether Snow could continue to preside over the case without bias.

Defense attorneys in May asked that the judge recuse himself, a motion Snow denied weeks later.

In its brief decision Tuesday, the appeals court stated only that Snow's order denying the motion to recuse was “not clearly erroneous as a matter of law.”

The civil-contempt hearings against Arpaio focus on three broad allegations of defiance stemming from the court’s orders. The proceedings may result in more oversight of the office’s internal investigations; retribution for racial-profiling victims; or a referral for criminal contempt-of-court.

The hearings are tentatively scheduled to begin Sept. 22, but Snow has said they may be delayed by a day or more.

Plaintiffs' attorneys could not be reached for comment Tuesday.