Sheriff Arpaio back in court today

PHOENIX (AP) -- Attorneys in Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's racial profiling case are due in court Friday to do spadework for upcoming contempt-of-court hearings against the lawman for his acknowledged violation of a judge's orders.

U.S. District Judge Murray Snow is expected to discuss whether the hearings will proceed as scheduled in late September and early October or whether they should be moved to a later date. One of the attorneys says he has a scheduling conflict.

Arpaio is undergoing the contempt hearings for withholding traffic-stop recordings requested before the profiling trial, bungling a plan to gather the recordings once they were revealed and ignoring a December 2011 order to halt his signature immigration patrols.

The hearings could lead to fines, increased oversight of the agency and a possible criminal contempt hearing.