A federal civil rights trial began in North Carolina this week that accused a sheriff of carrying out racial profiling against Latino motorists and jailing them for traffic violations rather than issuing citations.

The case is proceeding without a jury after court mediations collapsed in June.

The Justice Department conducted an investigation of the Alamance Country Sheriff's Office and found that between 2008 and 2013, deputies under the instructions of the sheriff routinely targeted Latinos for traffic stops. The department commissioned statistical studies of traffic stops, in which investigators examined over 10,000 citations and traffic stops on three major roads. In their findings, Latinos were stopped four to 10 times more than non-Latino drivers.

The Justice Department alleges Sheriff Terry Johnson used his office to violate the Constitution's ban on unreasonable searches.

During the investigation, the department interviewed 125 people, reviewed policies and procedures and analyzed traffic stops, arrests and citations.

They also discovered a deeply rooted culture initiated by Johnson, which permeated the entire agency with explicit instructions to target Latinos, using anti-Latino epithets and substandard reporting to mask its discriminatory conduct. 

When the Department of Justice announced the filing of the civil rights lawsuit, Thomas E. Perez, then assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division (now Secretary of Labor), said, "This is an abuse of power case involving a sheriff who misuses his position of authority to unlawfully target Latinos in Alamance County. Sheriff Johnson's directive and leadership have caused ACSO to violate the constitutional rights of Latinos in Alamance County and eroded public trust in ACSO."

In court on Tuesday, retired lieutenants Ken Evans and Stephen Perry testified that during a traffic checkpoint in 2007 or 2008, Johnson demanded that Latino drivers be locked up after being pulled over. The checkpoint was set up outside a mobile home park used by Latino renters, and stops were carried out during morning rush hour, reported The Associated Press.

The Justice Department said Johnson targeted Latinos to boost deportations after his agency in 2007 underwent training to perform immigration checks. Latinos who were arrested were referred for investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for potential deportation. ICE ended its agreement with Alamance County in 2012, according The Associated Press.

The defense attorney, Chuck Kitchen, said the case hinges on witness testimony and said and the government won't be able to prove an intentional pattern of discrimination against Latinos. He conducted his own traffic survey that showed that Latinos were stopped at a lesser rate than in other counties.