The Latest: Supreme Court rejects Arpaio bid for jury trial
By Associated Press
Jun 26, 2017 10:18 AM CDT
FILE-In this Feb. 4, 2009 file photo, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, left, orders approximately 200 convicted illegal immigrants handcuffed together in Tent City in Phoenix for incarceration until their sentences are served and they are deported to their home countries. The former longtime sheriff...   (Associated Press)

PHOENIX (AP) — The Latest on the trial of former Sheriff Joe Arpaio (all times local):

8:15 a.m.

The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected former Sheriff Joe Arpaio's request to let a jury instead of a judge decide whether he is guilty of a criminal charge for disobeying a court order to stop his immigration patrols.

The rejection from the nation's highest court came hours before the retired lawman's trial is set to begin on Monday.

Arpaio faces up to six months in prison if he's convicted, although many doubt he will be put behind bars.

The 85-year-old Apraio ousted from office by a significant margin last year. His successor has undone some of his major moves, including the closing of the infamous Tent City outdoor jail.

The eight-day trial in Phoenix will determine whether Arpaio is guilty of misdemeanor contempt of court for disobeying a judge's order to stop traffic patrols targeting immigrants.

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8 a.m.

Former Sheriff Joe Arpaio will go on trial Monday on a criminal contempt-of-court charge for disobeying a judge's order to stop his traffic patrols that targeted immigrants in metro Phoenix.

Arpaio has acknowledged prolonging the patrols for months but insists it wasn't intentional.

The 85-year-old retired lawman faces up to six months in jail if convicted, though lawyers who have followed his case doubt that he'll ever be put behind bars.

He was ousted from office last year in the same election that sent Donald Trump to the White House after using some of the same immigration rhetoric that made Arpaio a national name a decade earlier.

The judge concluded that Arpaio ignored the order because he believed his immigration efforts would help his 2012 campaign.

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