PHOENIX (CBS5) -
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio took the stand Tuesday to defend his deputies against allegations of racial profiling.
At issue is whether Arpaio's controversial crime suppression sweeps unfairly target people who look Hispanic, a charge Arpaio denies.
As Arpaio testified, protesters from both sides rallied outside of the federal court in downtown Phoenix.
Early Tuesday morning, roughly 40 people lined the street at Fourth and Washington waiting for Arpaio's arrival to court this morning, but Arpaio did not make a public appearance, instead going through a back entrance.
Four of the protesters were self-identified undocumented immigrants who said they were coming out of the shadows. Their slogan was "We have no papers and we are not afraid any longer."
"I'm representing everyone that is afraid of coming out undocumented," protester Isela Meraz said.
Phoenix police said they arrested the four protesters for blocking a thoroughfare and refusing to move.
Inside the courtroom, the prosecutors asked Arpaio to defend the way he responded to different memos as well as interviews the sheriff had conducted.
The sheriff, who has been on the stand since Tuesday morning, said he does not racially profile anyone, nor do his deputies.
It is expected that during the course of the trial, which began Thursday morning, several people who claimed they were victims of racial profiling will take the stand.
Deputies will be called to testify on what they've seen and been instructed to do when it comes to race.
The ACLU represents the plaintiffs, a group of citizens and legal residents who claim they were detained, targeted and/or harassed because of the way they look or their ethnic background.
The ACLU is arguing that the sheriff's office set up a dragnet for illegal immigrants, failed to follow established guidelines for anti-discriminatory policing and that citizens and legal residents got caught in the middle.
The defense Thursday morning grilled an expert who said studies show 80 percent of traffic stops are because of race. Dr. Ralph Taylor, professor of criminal justice at Temple University, testified if an incident took place during the time a saturation patrol was in effect, there was a high likelihood that the name checked would be Hispanic.
Tim Casey, who represents the defense, maintained the plaintiffs have no evidence that race does not play a factor in any of their traffic stops. Race and ethnicity had nothing to do with any stops of any individuals, he said. Casey added there has never been a saturation patrol that has not been based on criminal activity.
"Facts are facts, statistics are statistics, and they can be interpreted," said Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox. "But I thought they were very telling."
Toward the end of the first day, two men who claimed they were racially profiled took the stand. One said during a crime sweep in Mesa, he was stopped, and the first thing the deputy asked was if he spoke English.
The other witness said he was stopped along with five other drivers for passing a road closed sign. But he was the only one ticketed. He is Hispanic. The four others were reportedly white.
Ultimately, this case will be one step toward answering the Supreme Court's last remaining question about SB 1070 - whether local police can enforce immigration law without violating the civil rights of citizens.
The case is called Melendres v. Arpaio. You can find a link to the ACLU's web page on the case here.
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