A hearing to decide whether to hold Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio in contempt of court for violating court orders in a racial-profiling case took a surprising turn when the lawman acknowledged that his office was behind a secret investigation into the judge's wife.
Judge Murray Snow leveled a series of questions at Arpaio after his testimony wrapped up, focusing primarily on whether he or his family was being investigated by the sheriff.
Arpaio said he believed his former lawyer had hired a private investigator to investigate Snow's wife after she purportedly made a comment that about the judge not wanting the sheriff to get re-elected in 2012.
The judge convened the contempt-of-court hearing this week after Arpaio defied his orders to stop carrying out immigration patrols.
