Testimony of fear, anger at racial-profiling trial

Two citizens who believe Maricopa County Sheriff's deputies pulled them over because they are Hispanic gave the most emotional testimony so far in the 2-day-old trial involving allegations that Sheriff Joe Arpaio's agency engages in racial profiling.

Daniel Magos, 67, and Velia Meraz were stopped more than 18 months apart by sheriff's deputies, and neither have been pulled over since then. But both believe they remain targets of the Sheriff's Office because of their race

Attorneys for the Sheriff's Office have asked the same question of all the alleged profiling victims as they end their testimony: Have sheriff's deputies pulled you over since the traffic stop that led to the profiling allegation? The answer is universally "no," but Meraz, who was a passenger in an SUV that was pulled over in March 2008, said her fear remains.

Dana: 2008 video contradicts Arpaio testimony

"Sheriff Joe Arpaio keeps saying it on national TV that he's going to continue what he's doing and that means these sweeps, these stops," Meraz told the court. "I believe it could happen again."
The case alleges that the Sheriff's immigration-enforcement priorities have resulted in discrimination against Latinos residents. Over the past six years, Arpaio has made immigration enforcement his trademark, but those efforts have been also met by accusations -- by citizens, activists and the U.S. Justice Department -- that his agency has engaged in racial profiling and discrimination.

Deputy Michael Kikes, the sheriff's deputy who pulled over the SUV Meraz was riding in with her brother, Manuel Nieto, took the witness stand earlier Wednesday. Attorneys for the plaintiffs pointed out contradictions between deposition testimony that Kikes gave earlier and his statements in court on Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Murray Snow picked up on several of those apparent contradictions, questioning Kikes about his involvement with the Sheriff's saturation patrols and the instructions he might have been given before the operations began.

Kikes initially told the court that he recalled an instruction sheet for the March 2008 operation in the north Valley that included a specific warning against racial profiling.

"In bold letters, I remember," said Kikes, who was serving as a motorcycle officer during the operation.

Snow later had Kikes look at the instruction sheet, on which the deputy could find no such admonition. Kikes also claimed he was in a briefing before the operation began, but his name was not reflected on an attendance sheet that other deputies signed.

The contradictions in Kikes' testimony became more significant as Meraz and Nieto gave accounts of their stop and detention. Their recollections directly conflicted with Kikes' statements. Kikes claimed he never used force with Nieto after stopping the siblings' SUV at the request of another deputy. Kikes also said he never drew his weapon during the stop, but Meraz and Nieto testified that some deputies had their guns drawn.

Nieto and Meraz were stopped after they encountered a sheriff's deputy who had two men detained at a gas station in the north Valley during one of Arpaio's saturation patrols. The siblings claim they were about to enter the gas station when a sheriff's deputy ordered them to leave and threatened them with arrest for disorderly conduct. On their way out of the gas station, Meraz admitted to telling the detained men not to sign anything they did not understand.

Nieto admitted he initially refused to pull over when Kikes pulled behind his SUV, but said he was afraid of the sheriff's deputy and was on the phone with 911 operators expressing his concerns.
Nieto and Meraz were eventually released without receiving a citation.

Tim Casey, an attorney for the Sheriff's Office, asked Nieto if he had ever been pulled over again by Arpaio's deputies after that March 2008 stop.

"I have not," Nieto said. "But I do have fear."

Similar testimony emerged from a maintenance worker who was pulled over in south Phoenix in December 2009. He had been stopped because his work trailer obscured the license plate, according to the deputy who stopped Magos and his wife in a Ford pickup loaded up with landscaping equipment.

Magos, who has been a U.S. citizen for more than 45 years, was not cited for any violations. He believes the sheriff's deputy pulled his truck over for an entirely different reason.

"It made me feel angry ... worthless ... defenseless," Magos said, holding back tears on the witness stand as he described the stop. "After (the deputy's) apology (for the stop) he told me that stop had nothing to do with racial profiling. I told him that was exactly what it was."

Magos said he tried to report the incident to the Sheriff's Office, but never received a return call after family members left several messages. He said the complaint he filed with the American Civil Liberties Union was the first time anyone responded to his concerns. Magos said he has since spoken with investigators from the U.S. Department of Justice, which earlier this year filed a separate civil-rights lawsuit against the Sheriff's Office.

With no jury in the case, Snow will decide whether the Sheriff's Office participated in widespread discrimination against Latino residents, as the plaintiffs claim.

The lawsuit does not seek monetary damages. Instead, the plaintiffs want the kind of injunctive relief that the Sheriff's Office has resisted in the past -- a declaration that spells out what deputies may or may not do when stopping potential suspects, and a court-appointed monitor to make sure the agency lives by those rules.

The trial is scheduled to end on Aug. 2.

MCSO, actor Steven Seagal sued over 2011 arrest

When a tank knocked down his block wall with a boom, waking him from a sound sleep, Jesus Llovera scrambled out of bed and grabbed his jeans and a phone to dial 911.

He made it to the hallway just as his bedroom windows shattered. At his door, members of a Maricopa County Sheriff's Office SWAT team in full riot gear told him to get on the floor.

He was handcuffed and taken outside, where action-movie actor Steven Seagal waited, clad in camouflage and sunglasses and hoisting a rifle.

"I looked up and saw his face," Llovera said. "It was very strange."

The SWAT team was at Llovera's Laveen home the morning of March 10, 2011, to search it.

Deputies suspected that Llovera, who had pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor violation of being present at a cockfight, still had roosters and chickens on his property, a violation of his probation. They also suspected he was raising them to fight, a Class 5 felony.

But the Sheriff's Office was also participating in the creation of a reality show, "Steven Seagal: Lawman," a cable show that followed Seagal's exploits as a deputized officer. Four cameras from the production company filmed the warrant execution and arrest. Arpaio's office had alerted the media. Reporters and television cameras lined the southwest Phoenix neighborhood's street.

This week, Llovera struck back. Llovera, 43, filed a civil lawsuit Tuesday against the Sheriff's Office and Seagal, claiming his arrest was orchestrated to make for good television. He seeks unspecified monetary damages to be determined by a jury.

The suit, which also names the county Board of Supervisors, says it fit a pattern of Arpaio "arresting and prosecuting individuals without probable cause solely for the selfish and improper purposes of achieving personal and political gain through publicity."

The Sheriff's Office insists in court documents that the use of a tank, a bomb robot and 40 deputies was part of its normal course of duties.

"The search warrant was going to occur with or without Seagal," sheriff's Deputy Chief Dave Trombi said before the lawsuit was filed. "The search warrant was not based at all on the needs of the production company."

After the raid, Llovera was criminally charged with raising animals for cockfighting and possession of dangerous drugs used on the animals. At the time, he was not supposed to have the animals in his possession because he was on probation for a cockfighting-related offense.

Robert Campos, Llovera's attorney, has asked the court in the criminal case to throw out evidence discovered at Llovera's home, arguing that the warrant was not served property.

Campos said his client was not involved with cockfighting, as authorities suspect. But, even if he were, the raid "was still overkill, and that's the whole point."

The Arizona-filmed episode of "Steven Seagal: Lawman" was to premiere on the A&E Network on Jan. 4, but the season was pulled from the schedule and the channel's website.

At the time of his arrest, Llovera said, Seagal walked him off his property to a van but did not speak to him. Seagal went off to do media interviews. Show producers asked Llovera to sign a release allowing them to use footage of his arrest. Llovera said deputies removed his handcuffs twice as producers asked him to sign. He refused.

"They said, 'It will be good for you, so everyone can see your animals,' " Llovera said. "I said I didn't want to."

Deputies found more than 100 roosters on the property. Court records say some had been physically altered in ways suggesting the birds had been bred for cockfighting. Since such birds are too aggressive to be rehabilitated, deputies said, they were euthanized.

Deputies also found medicines, charging Llovera with possession of dangerous drugs, and accessories, like sparring balls.

Deputies interviewed Llovera for 90 minutes, according to a prosecution filing in court.

"During that time, defendant equivocated between saying that the roosters were being raised solely for show purposes and then stating that he was raising the roosters so that they could be sold to people who would use them for cockfighting," it said.

Llovera, during a recent tour of his home, told a reporter that he bred the birds to show their colorful plumage. But he did not know when the next rooster show was, or anything about competitions for rooster beauty or breeding.

He showed a copy of Gamecock magazine, saying he's just like dealers who sell in that publication. The Humane Society calls the magazine a thinly disguised journal for cockfighting fans.

Llovera walked with a reporter through three rows of cages in his backyard for the 40 birds he owns.

To show his birds weren't meant for fighting, Llovera put his hand into a cage. The rooster backed up. Had they been fighters, he said, they would be used to handling and could be easily approached.

He conceded he trimmed some birds' wattles and combs, but only so the birds could place their heads through the bars of their cages to eat. He said a room authorities thought was a training ring is where he practices Santeria, a religion that includes animal sacrifice.

Llovera said he grew up a fan of cockfighting, watching battles in his native Cuba. He attended cockfights in Arizona when they were legal. Voters banned the practice in 1998.

"Those are traditions that you bring with you," Llovera said, "and it was in Arizona. It was a tradition that was in Arizona."

Llovera was one of 69 people arrested at a cockfight in Tonopah in May 2010. He pleaded guilty to being present at a fight and was given probation.

Phoenix police went to Llovera's home in February 2011 to investigate a man's claim that Llovera had kidnapped him and held him hostage for four days. Llovera told his own story of being kidnapped and having his pinky chopped off in the desert.

Confronted with differing stories, police didn't pursue the kidnapping case. But they did send the information about the roosters on Llovera's property to the Sheriff's Office.

That resulted in the search warrant that led deputies, with Seagal in tow, to storm Llovera's home. Trombi said the allegations against Llovera justified the sheriff's use of force.

"When SWAT is requested, it's based on previous history surrounding that suspect and that residence. Phoenix police did it with just as many if not more SWAT personnel as we did," Trombi said. "We had a legitimate law-enforcement reason to be there, we had a legitimate document, a search warrant, signed by that judge to be at that property. And a year later, we're still in the litigation phase. We're not willing to back down from the charges the county attorney filed based on our investigation."

Llovera said he's frustrated thinking how much his life was upended by the bust. "At the end of it, I realized it was a show," Llovera said. "What they showed up for was to make a show, and they made one."

http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/2012/03/01/20120301mcso-seagal-sued-arrest.html

Bail cut for Arpaio staffers tied to drug ring

Two of three Maricopa County sheriff's employees implicated in a multinational heroin smuggling ring have been released from custody after posting bail, and the highest-ranking member of the trio had his bail reduced to $25,000 this week after a judge determined the original $1 million cash bail was excessive.

The developments in the case, which accused the sheriff's employees of conspiring to smuggle heroin and launder money, came as prosecutors have offered plea deals to all 19 defendants and dismissed charges against one in the interest of justice.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said the reduced bond amounts and dismissed charges do not reflect on the quality of the investigation his deputies performed. But Arpaio said he was concerned about the release of some suspects who have ties to other countries.

Evidence that investigators presented to the grand jury after the months-long probe, which included the use of court-ordered wire taps, indicated that former Deputy Alfredo Navarrette and former sheriff's detention officer Marcella Hernandez discussed moving to a ranch in Mexico before their arrests.

Investigators said the ranch is owned by the smuggling ring's alleged leader, Francisco Arce-Torres, who is accused of having ties to the Sinaloan cartel and whom detectives believe fathered a child Hernandez gave birth to shortly after her arrest.

"I'm a little concerned about my people being released on $25,000 bond when intelligence shows they have this farm in (Mexico) and they're thinking about moving there," Arpaio said.

The efforts of attorneys to reduce bail amounts, get charges dismissed and have cases sent back to a grand jury are part of any vigorous defense. But the involvement of three members of the law-enforcement community being investigated by their own agency makes the case distinct.

The group mostly moved heroin, according to investigators, and officials suspect each of the arrested sheriff's employees played a crucial role in moving the drugs and hiding illicit profits. Authorities say the ring moved about $56,000 worth of heroin a week through the Valley.

Arce-Torres arranged for the heroin to be brought into the Valley after his brothers produced the drug on the family's ranch in Mexico, according to court documents.

Hernandez's brother, who was also among those arrested, is suspected of operating one of several stash houses, and investigators believe Hernandez coordinated the pickup and delivery of heroin from the drug houses.

Navarrette and Sylvia Najera, the other arrested detention officer, helped set up a shell corporation called West Utilities Group Inc., which was used earlier this year to launder nearly $50,000 in drug proceeds, according to court documents.

Najera was released after posting $12,000 bail this summer.

Hernandez's bond was reduced from $2 million to $25,000 and she was released shortly after 7:30 a.m. Tuesday.

But it was Navarrette who was depicted as among the most egregious suspects to emerge in the investigation, in part because of his role in the sheriff's human-smuggling unit and the presence of two undocumented immigrants in Navarrette's Phoenix home when deputies raided it in May.

Navarrette's attorney painted a different picture in documents he filed requesting reduced bond for his client.
The undocumented immigrants in Navarrette's house were simply renting space from the divorced deputy, who needed the extra income to keep his home, according to his attorney.

And the lifestyle Navarrette lived before his arrest does not fit with that of a money-laundering smuggler, Navarrette's attorney, Herman Alacantar, told the court.

"Mr. Navarrette was not once during this investigation spending large amounts of money, driving of possessing fancy or expensive cars or otherwise living an expensive or extravagant lifestyle," Alcantar wrote. "On the contrary, Mr. Navarrette's utilities were regularly cut off for nonpayment; he was always behind on all his bills and often had to borrow money from other deputies and friends to make ends meet."

The filings included numerous letters from Navarrette's family and friends, who cited his longstanding ties to the Valley, where he was born and raised, his service in the military and work in the Sheriff's Office.

Prosecutors declined to comment on the case, but their filings point to some of the same factors - particularly Navarrette's work in law enforcement while allegedly involved in a criminal enterprise - as reason enough for the bond to remain at $1 million.

The filings also cited months of surveillance and intercepted phone calls that allegedly support prosecutors' claims that Navarrette was intimately involved in the smuggling ring.

"While the defendant has many letters in support of him, it is apparent that those who continue to support him do not grasp the depth of his behavior and actions," prosecutor Rebekah Browder wrote. "If the defendant was able to commit these crimes while wearing a badge, it can only be assumed that if he is released from jail, he will have free reign to break the laws again."

But Superior Court Judge Janet Barton ruled Tuesday that Navarrette's $1 million bond was "clearly excessive."

The decision left Arpaio steamed.

"You have a deputy sheriff who has worked on our human smuggling and given intelligence out, putting my deputies in danger, tipping them (smugglers) off and now this guy's getting back on the street with $25,000?" Arpaio asked. "I don't understand this, I really don't."

The sheriff's employees and other defendants are due back in court in early December.

Navarette remained in custody as of Wednesday.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/10/12/20111012arpaio-staffers-bond-reduced1012.html

Border Patrol agent arrested on suspicion of criminal speeding

A suspended U.S. Border Patrol agent was arrested on suspicion of criminal speeding and found with a synthetic marijuana and prescription drugs in his car on Thursday, according to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.

Michael Atondo, 34, has been on indefinite suspension after he was accused of smuggling marijuana in his Border Patrol truck in April, according to the sheriff's office.

On Thursday, Atondo was pulled over on Arizona 85 by a Maricopa County Sheriff's deputy. Atondo identified himself as a Border Patrol agent and informed them he was driving back to work after spending a few days with friends in Glendale.

Deputies searched Atondo's vehicle, finding oxycodone, according to the sheriff's office. Atondo didn't have a prescription for the drug. Deputies also discovered a synthetic marijuana substance called "Jazz Kush."

Atondo was booked into the Fourth Avenue Jail on suspicion of criminal speeding and narcotic drug possession.

Atondo remains an employee with the Border Patrol but was put on suspension in connection with his arrest in April.

In that case, he was found near the border with 745 pounds of marijuana in his Border Patrol truck.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/09/30/20110930maricopa-border-agent-speeding-abrk.html

Peoria man sues Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, cites abuse by deputies

A Peoria contractor claims in a lawsuit against the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office that deputies beat and shot him with a stun gun for no reason as he stood outside a concession stand at Phoenix International Raceway last year.

Michael T. Wyman, 50, maintains in his lawsuit that he greeted an old friend with a bear hug near the track's Speed Cantina during a NASCAR race last November when, without warning, a deputy put him in a choke hold. The deputy threw him to the ground, Wyman alleges, and another deputy began shooting Wyman in the leg with a stun gun.

Wyman was charged with resisting arrest, aggravated assault and disorderly conduct for his role in the Nov. 13 incident, but a judge dismissed the charges in March at the request of prosecutors.

Wyman filed a notice of claim against the county in May, offering to settle the issue for $2 million. County officials did not respond, according to Wyman's attorney, so Wyman earlier this month filed a civil suit against Sheriff Joe Arpaio and the deputies involved in the incident.

"My deputies have a tough job," Arpaio said. "At this point, these are just allegations. I will await the true outcome of this lawsuit before I make any judgments."

Wyman says he made his claim in part because he suffered injuries that left him unable to do the work required for his company, Ricochet Excavating. The company survived the recent recession, but its future is threatened because of Wyman's run-in with deputies, said Daniel Treon, Wyman's attorney.

According to the lawsuit, Wyman saw his friend Ernie Griego near the Speed Cantina about 9 p.m. during a NASCAR Nationwide Series race, and the two greeted each other with "a high five and bear hugs."
Sheriff's deputies saw the exchange differently.

A police report on the incident indicates that a deputy was "alerted to a group of white males that appeared to be intoxicated and were grabbing and pushing one another. The subjects were pushing each other into people that were not part of their group," a deputy wrote.

Deputies were trying to get the group to move, according to the report, when Wyman turned to face Deputy Preston Boyer "and swung his arms at Deputy Boyer striking him on the right side of the face," according to a deputy's report.

When Boyer was struck, another deputy shot Wyman in the back with the stun gun, according to the police report.

Wyman's attorney said the sheriff's report offers only the deputies' perspective. He said the Sheriff's Office could not produce witnesses to verify the events laid out in the police report.

"We think that was an exaggerated statement full of unsubstantiated statements by law enforcement to justify what really, by all accounts, was a bizarre, uniformed attack on Mr. Wyman," Treon said. He said a handful of witnesses acquainted with Wyman, including a firefighter and a 911 operator, could verify Wyman's claims.

Wyman said his first encounter with a deputy came when Boyer came up from behind and began to choke him.

"Surprised, disoriented and unable to see his unidentified attacker, Michael grabbed onto his assailant's arm to try to loosen the choke hold so he could breathe," the lawsuit claims. "Another unknown MCSO deputy shoved Jan (Wyman's wife) aside and tasered Michael in the back."

Wyman's lawsuit and the sheriff's report both indicate that deputies shot Wyman twice with the stun gun, but Wyman's lawsuit claims the deputies went on to stomp on his arms and kick him before handcuffing him. The lawsuit also claims that sheriff's deputies continued to shock Wyman after he was handcuffed and that deputies threatened to stun-gun a Phoenix firefighter who was a friend of Wyman's when he tried to tell the deputies to stop.

Wyman's son, Wade, tried to talk to the deputies during the altercation but was shocked with a stun gun, kneed and kicked by deputies, the lawsuit alleges.

Michael and Wade Wyman both were taken into custody, but Wade was never cited, and a deputy did not write up a report on Wade's involvement, "a clear violation of policy," according to Treon.

Michael Wyman was taken to Fourth Avenue Jail, but officers told deputies to take Wyman to Maricopa Medical Center for treatment of his injuries, according to the complaint.

Wyman continues to experience nerve damage from the stun-gun shock and has undergone surgeries, including a skin graft, to repair damage from the weapon and broken bones from a deputy stomping on Wyman's foot, Treon said. Those injuries have made it difficult for the contractor to perform his work, he said.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/09/16/20110916peoria-man-sues-mcso-claims-abuse-deputies.html

Moreno's Mexican Grill Target of Joe Arpaio's Latest Employer Sanctions Raid Which Targeted Employees

Maricopa County is now safe from six illegal immigrants who were allegedly using stolen identities to work at a Mexican restaurant in Chandler.

That's right, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office conducted its latest illegal immigrant roundup at Moreno's Mexican grill in Chandler this morning. It netted a total of six arrests.

The MCSO says it received information that 14 illegal immigrants were using fake IDs in order to work at the restaurant. Only six were arrested today -- which is a vast improvement from the last time the sheriff went gangbusters on a Valley business in search of illegal immigrants.

Last week, Arpaio's boys in beige raided a Days Inn hotel in downtown Phoenix. The result: one arrest.

Per usual, Sheriff Joe Arpaio is trying to church-up the immigrant roundup, calling the raid an "employer sanctions operation." Also per usual, no employers were arrested -- just employees.

When asked if any employers were arrested, MCSO Officer Chris Hegstrom tells New Times "at this time, I can tell you we arrested six employees for using false identification."

Again, precisely zero employers were arrested during the sheriff's "employer sanctions operation" this morning -- but that's because the raid had nothing to do with sanctions for people who hire illegal immigrants; it was just your run-of-the-mill MCSO immigrant roundup under the guise of an "employer sanctions operation."

http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2011/09/morenos_mexican_grill_target_o.php