Thread: Judge Refuses To Toss Out Joe Arpaio's Guilty Contempt Verdict After Trump's Pardon

Judge Refuses To Toss Out Joe Arpaio's Guilty Contempt Verdict After Trump's Pardon

The president's pardon "does not erase a judgment of conviction, or its underlying legal and factual findings," a federal judge ruled.

Posted on October 19, 2017, at 10:40 p.m.
Chris Geidner

A federal judge on Thursday refused to toss out the underlying guilty verdict in former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's criminal contempt case in the wake of President Trump's pardon of the sheriff.

"The pardon undoubtedly spared Defendant from any punishment that might otherwise have been imposed," US District Court Judge Susan Bolton wrote. "It did not, however, 'revise the historical facts' of this case."

Arpaio had been found guilty of criminal contempt for repeatedly refusing to halt a policing tactic to catch undocumented immigrants despite court orders to do so. He had not, however, been sentenced when Trump issued the pardon in August.

After he received the pardon, Arpaio asked the court to dismiss his case and to vacate all of the earlier orders in the case — including his guilty verdict. Bolton had let it known that she was uncertain if she could go as far as that, asking in September for additional briefing in the case.

Bolton earlier agreed to dismiss the case, but held off her opinion on whether the earlier orders also would be vacated. In Thursday's order, Bolton denied his request that she do more than dismiss the case.

As to the effect of a presidential pardon, Bolton explained, "It does not erase a judgment of conviction, or its underlying legal and factual findings," citing a prior case from the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit — where an appeal of Arpaio's request would be heard.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/chrisgeidne...orp#.kc1A5z52z

Oh that's disappointing, but I guess not all that surprising. Maybe he can try again later. What happened to Sheriff Joe was a travesty, should have never happened to begin with, and needs to be reversed and purged from his record.

By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times - Friday, October 20, 2017

Former Sheriff Joe Arpaio appealed a judge’s ruling late Thursday that his contempt-of-court conviction must remain on his record despite President Trump’s pardon.

His lawyers have argued that Judge Susan R. Bolton goofed when she convicted him in the first place, and again when she refused to expunge the conviction after the pardon. They say the conviction wasn’t final because they’d asked for a new trial before a jury, and had avenues of appeal left to them.

They didn’t get to pursue those avenues because of Mr. Trump’s pardon.

Judge Bolton on Thursday rejected those arguments, saying that Mr. Arpaio, who served nearly a quarter-century as sheriff in Maricopa County, Arizona, had a choice of either rejecting the pardon or else accepting it — which means admitting guilt.

“The Court found Defendant guilty of criminal contempt. The President issued the pardon. Defendant accepted. The pardon undoubtedly spared Defendant from any punishment that might otherwise have been imposed. It did not, however, ‘revise the historical facts’ of this case,” Judge Bolton wrote.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...tion-expunged/

Judge Bolton on Thursday rejected those arguments, saying that Mr. Arpaio, who served nearly a quarter-century as sheriff in Maricopa County, Arizona, had a choice of either rejecting the pardon or else accepting it — which means admitting guilt.

Oh that is ridiculous. Where do these idiot judges come from?!