Mexico plans to return suspect
Charged in death of Denver cop
By Felisa Cardona
Denver Post Staff Writer


A Mexican official says his country will extradite Raul Gomez-Garcia so the 20-year- old can face charges in the shooting death of Denver police Detective Donald "Donnie" Young.

"The Mexican government wants to see Mr. Gomez-Garcia face justice appropriately in the United States," Geronimo Gutierrez, Mexico's foreign secretary for North America, told 9News. "Bad guys should be behind bars."

The extradition request filed by Denver prosecutors will now go through the Mexican courts. Gomez-Garcia can fight extradition, and if he loses, can appeal the decision to send him back.

If Gomez-Garcia files an appeal, the process could take more than a year. If he does not contest the decision, he could be back in Denver in a few months.

Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey said Friday that the foreign secretary's announcement marks the beginning of an important phase.

"For us, that is very positive news," Morrissey said. "Gomez- Garcia can fight extradition. ... It could be shorter than we thought, but it could take more than a year."

Morrissey said he was confident his office had prepared an appropriate extradition request but he could not comment on the judicial process in Mexico.

Gomez-Garcia is accused of ambushing Young and wounding Detective Jack Bishop on May 8. The officers were working off-duty security at a baptism party when the shooting occurred.

Gomez-Garcia left Denver and went to Los Angeles before running to his grandmother's home in Culiacán, Mexico.

He was captured in June and is being held in a Mexican jail.

Denver prosecutors charged him with second-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder.

A first-degree murder charge was not pursued because Mexican authorities traditionally do not extradite prisoners if the death penalty or life without parole is a possibility.

Staff writer Felisa Cardona can be reached at 303-820-1219 or fcardona@denverpost.com.




http://www.insidedenver.com/drmn/state/ ... 83,00.html

Mexico supports extradition

Return of alleged cop killer favored, diplomat says

By Fernando Quintero, Rocky Mountain News
September 24, 2005

A high-ranking Mexican diplomat in Denver for the inauguration of the country's new consulate offices said his government supported the extradition to Colorado of accused cop killer Raul Gomez-Garcia.

Geronimo Gutierrez, Mexico's undersecretary for North America in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the Mexican government "strongly believes (Gomez-Garcia) should face justice here.

"Mexico has no interest in harboring criminals," he said. "The Mexican government is working and will be granting the extradition from an executive branch perspective."

However, Gutierrez said Gomez-Garcia's case would soon be entering the judicial phase in Mexico, which was subject to a number of variables that could delay his extradition, including Gomez-Garcia's right to appeal a judge's decision.

Gutierrez, who spoke on a number of topics, also warned that immigration reform would work only through improved relations between Mexico and the United States.

He was critical of a bill proposed by U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., which would increase the number of U.S. border patrol agents, crack down on employers who who hire illegal immigrants, and make it a felony to be in the U.S. illegally.

The plan would also require immigrants to return to Mexico before they are given guest-worker status, and would then limit them to 365 days in the U.S. every two years.

"I don't think his plan is feasible," Gutierrez maintained. "First, it would require a mass exodus of 11 million people. To process visa requests, you better have a lot more embassies to do that. Also, many people have a home, a car and U.S. children that I don't think they would be ready to leave behind."

Gutierrez said he supported a bill by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., that would encourage illegal immigrants to join a guest-worker program for up to six years by giving them the chance to obtain legal residence and start the process of citizenship.

However, he cautioned that immigration reform would require increased cooperation between the United States and Mexico. Relations between the two countries have been strained, he said, by highly-publicized incidents such as the Minutemen volunteer border watchers.

He also cited the state-of-emergency declarations by the governors of New Mexico and Arizona for their border areas because of illegal immigration and increased violence between drug traffickers.

"What we want is a legal, safe and orderly process," said Gutierrez. "The Mexican government is not in favor of illegal immigration. What we need is respectful dialogue between our countries. We are part of the equation, and we both have to work together."

Gutierrez said a cooperative approach to addressing immigration and other common issues is exemplified by the under-publicized Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, which was established by the leaders of Canada, Mexico and the United States in late March.

That agreement was designed to streamline the movement of "low-risk" traffic across the countries' shared borders, prevent and respond to threats within North America, and to secure the continent from external threats.

www.9news.com

Mexican official indicates Gomez-Garcia extradition to begin soon

DENVER - A high-level Mexican official says his government will move within the next couple weeks to begin the extradition of alleged cop killer Raul Gomez-Garcia to Colorado. Gomez-Garcia is accused of killing Denver Police Officer Donald Young and wounding Officer Jack Bishop during a shooting in May.

Geronimo Gutierrez, the Under Secretary for North America, is in Denver for the opening of the new Mexican Consulate on the city's east side. He told 9News the thinking behind extraditing the murder suspect is that "the Mexican government does not harbor criminals.

"The Mexican government wants to see Mr. Gomez-Garcia face justice appropriately in the United States," Gutierrez said. "(We) will be granting the extradition within the next couple of weeks. We've worked very closely with U.S. authorities on that."

The likelihood of the Mexican government approving the extradition became greater when Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey filed second-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder charges against Gomez-Garcia. First-degree murder charges in Colorado carry an automatic sentence of life in prison without parole and the possibility of a death sentence. The Mexican government has a policy of not extraditing criminal suspects to countries without them having the chance for parole.

"We want to send obviously our deepest condolences to the family of Officer Young, to his friends, to the city here because it is a terrible incident," said Gutierrez. "We want to make sure appropriate justice is made."

Gomez-Garcia can choose to fight the extradition in Mexican courts, a process which could take more than a year, or he could waive any appeal. Gutierrez says if that happens, the suspect could be back in Colorado before the end of the year.

DA Morrissey labeled the Mexican government's declaration "a first step...but it's a very important step.

"We've said all along we need to be patient," he said in a phone interview with 9News. "We want to make sure everything's done correctly so we can get him back to be tried in Colorado."