The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [official website] decided [text, PDF] Tuesday that because the Justice Department will not defend former Maricopa County Sheriff’s criminal contempt conviction, it would appoint a special prosecutor to defend the question.

Arpaio was convicted of criminal contempt in July. The court found Arpaio did not comply with a court order to stop detaining Latinos based solely on their immigration status. Less than a month later, President Donald Trump granted him his first presidential pardon [JURIST reports].

“Because the United States has abandoned any defense of the district court’s decision with respect to vacatur, the merits panel of our court that will decide this appeal will not receive the benefit of full briefing and argument unless we appoint a special prosecutor to defend the decision of the district court.”

The Ninth Circuit addressed only the question of whether to appoint a special prosecutor, and noted that other questions will be addressed in a separate decision.