Arpaio not happy with new Maricopa County Prosecutor.

[pampango]

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2010/05/19/20100519rick-romley-immigration-charges.html

Thomas' (the previous county attorney) interpretation of Arizona's 2005 human-smuggling law - an interpretation upheld by the courts - allowed Arpaio's deputies to book suspected illegal immigrants on allegations of conspiracy to smuggle themselves into the country. (Interim Maricopa County Attorney Rick) Romley, however, called the legal tactics sloppy.

"I'm tightening up the ship," Romley said. "They were filing charges without any documentation from (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) that they were here improperly. And I go, wait a minute, we have ethical obligations here. So we asked them to get the documentation from ICE in some manner and get back to us. It wasn't a turn-down."

The divide between the current and former prosecutors became apparent in the past couple of weeks, as Arpaio's deputies arrested smugglers and the human cargo they carry. All were jailed on suspicion of violating the human-smuggling law. But when attorneys in Romley's office reviewed the cases, they chose to prosecute only the smugglers - and declined to charge those smuggled. The immigrants were sent to ICE after federally trained detention officers screened them and could find no evidence they were in the country legally.

Romley said he wants sheriff's deputies to present certified federal records to prove the suspects' immigration status in trial before proceeding against them. Arpaio said that was not previously needed. In any event, most defendants in the past have pleaded to lesser charges before they ever went to trail.

"Unfortunately, I feel the new county attorney does not want to enforce these illegal-immigration laws," Arpaio said.

[Arkana]

1. If Arpaio's unhappy, every sane person in AZ must be happy

as a pig in shit.