Decision expected in immigration protest trial
By AMANDA LEE MYERS Associated Press
Posted: 08/01/2011 03:07:22 PM MDT
Updated: 08/01/2011 03:08:16 PM MDT

PHOENIX—A decision is expected Monday in the trial of the president of a national religious organization and others who were arrested while protesting Arizona's tough immigration law and a crackdown on illegal immigrants.

The Rev. Peter Morales, president of the Boston-based Unitarian Universalist Association, is charged with a misdemeanor count of failure to obey an order. Morales lives in Arvada, Colo., and Salem, Mass., and was elected as the first Latino president of the association in 2009.

Also on trial in the same courtroom Monday is Salvador Reza, the leader of an immigrant-rights group based in Phoenix and a longtime opponent of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his immigration crackdowns.

Other defendants include a UCLA graduate student in art, a security guard at a local music venue and an official at the Arizona branch of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union.

Their trial began Friday. Several other groups have had their trials in the last couple of months, but Justice of the Peace Frank Conti is expected to issue a decision in everyone's cases at the same time Monday.

The defendants were arrested July 29, 2010, when dozens of protesters took to Phoenix streets on the day Arizona's new immigration law was set to take effect. A judge put the most contentious parts of the law on hold, and the fight likely is headed to the Supreme Court.

The protesters also were speaking out against Arpaio, who organized an immigration sweep the day the law took effect.

The protesters in Phoenix massed outside one of Arpaio's jails, beating on a metal door and forcing sheriff's deputies to call for backup. Officers in riot gear opened the doors, waded into the crowd and hauled off those who didn't move, including Morales.

Phoenix attorney Sean Larkin has represented many of the arrested protesters for free because he is against the Arizona immigration law. He said Friday none of his clients likely will get more than a fine because they were charged with misdemeanors.

Meanwhile, a New York woman acting as a legal observer of the protest and the Center for Constitutional Rights has filed a complaint in federal court about her arrest and 15-hour jail detention. The woman, Sunita Patel, works for the center, based in New York.

The complaint, filed Thursday, says Patel was arrested along with protesters even though she clearly was a designated legal observer there to document the actions of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office in policing the protest.

"The individual defendants' act and omissions ... were intentional, wanton, willful and malicious, and were performed with deliberate indifference and/or reckless disregard of Patel's constitutional rights," the complaint said.

The complaint also said Patel had to pay about $15,000 in attorney fees and for travel to Arizona for her court case. All charges against Patel were dismissed June 9.

The complaint names Arpaio, former Chief Deputy David Hendershott and other top sheriff's officials, and seeks unspecified damages.

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Follow Amanda Lee Myers at http://twitter.com/AmandaLeeAP

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