Thread: Mexico returns fugitive

Mexico returns fugitive

Man held in attack on deputies

By Troy Anderson, Staff Writer

In the first extradition of a Mexican fugitive to Los Angeles in four years, a man suspected of trying to kill two sheriff's deputies with an AK-47 assault rifle has been returned to the United States for prosecution, officials said Thursday.
Mexican authorities have refused to extradite to the U.S. as many as 3,000 fugitives -- including up to 1,000 accused of crimes in California -- since their nation's Supreme Court ruled in 2001 that people facing the death penalty or life imprisonment without parole could not be returned to America.

But last year, Mexican courts granted the extraditions of two suspects in murder cases in Ventura and San Bernardino counties who faced life in prison with the possibility of parole. A fugitive suspected of killing a police officer recently was extradited to Colorado after authorities agreed they would leave open the possibility of parole someday.

"We are seeing some slippage in the original decision," Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley said Thursday in announcing the return of Ricardo Rodriguez, 26, to the U.S. Rodriguez would not be eligible for parole until he was 94 if convicted of all charges and given the maximum sentence.

"We are seeing a window of opportunity in this case, and perhaps others, that we are going to try to take advantage of to secure what we believe under our laws are lawful sentences that may very well include someone spending the rest of their life in prison."

U.S. marshals brought Rodriguez back Wednesday. He was apprehended in a small town in Mexico in October. His arraignment was postponed until Tuesday.

Rodriguez is suspected in the April 9, 2004, attack on two sheriff's deputies in Inglewood after they tried to pull him over when he ran a red light, Cooley said.

After a brief chase, Rodriguez stopped the car in the middle of the 11000 block of South New Hampshire Avenue, jumped out and began firing at the deputies with the assault rifle, the district attorney said.

"In the background was a playground at West Athens Elementary School where about 15 children were playing," he said.

A brief gunbattle ensued, but no one was hurt. Rodriguez escaped.

The District Attorney's Office filed a formal extradition request last Dec. 13. Rodriguez is charged with two counts each of attempted murder on a peace officer, machine gun or assault weapon assault on a peace officer; three counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm; one count of possession of an assault weapon; and one count of evading an officer. He is being held on $2.8 million bail.

If convicted on all counts, Rodriguez faces two life terms, plus 54 years in prison. He would be eligible for parole in 68 years and four months.

Sheriff Lee Baca, who has been working with Cooley to catch and extradite the killer of sheriff's Deputy David March, said the extradition of Rodriguez is a "small step" in the battle to get as many as 300 people suspected of serious crimes in Los Angeles County returned from Mexico.

"The Supreme Court of Mexico has made shameful decisions regarding what they believe is appropriate for the Mexican people and the American people," Baca said. "The Mexican people do not want murderers, attempted cop killers, rapists, drug dealers or any other kind of offenders who are committing these crimes in the United States in their own country.

"This is an onslaught. This is an attack, not only on the people of Mexico, but on the American Constitution and American law. We cannot just sit by idly in the great state of California or any state in the United States and let the Mexican Supreme Court dictate what justice means. And so although we have a success story today, there are hundreds of other stories that are not successful."

As Mexican courts have begun to allow some extraditions, some prosecutors have made deals with Mexican authorities to not seek the death penalty or life imprisonment in exchange for getting the suspected killer back to the U.S. The Denver district attorney recently made such a deal.

Asked whether he's willing to make a deal to extradite Armando Garcia, the man police suspect in March's killing at a traffic stop in Irwindale in 2002, Cooley said the "death penalty is what a cop killer should get in virtually ever case."

But in cases in which the U.S. sentence would involve life in prison without the possibility of parole, Cooley seemed to indicate he might be willing to compromise.

"If we can't get complete justice, we want to get substantial justice and we want it on our terms, in our court system and our prison system," Cooley said. "And that's our goal, not just in the Deputy March situation, but in many, many others. We are going to try to get the best justice we can for the victims in our jurisdiction."

Jan Maurizi, director of the District Attorney's Office's Branch and Area Operations, said the recent Mexican court rulings open up the possibility to extradite suspects on life sentence cases.

"Our office, like all prosecutors' offices throughout the country, evaluates each case on the merits, based on the facts and circumstances, on individual sentencing schemes and on the treaty and progression of cases with the Mexican Supreme Court," Maurizi said.

"So I think it's fair to say we will always look at individual cases in determining what is best for the victims' families."
http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413 ... 82,00.html

Mexico finally did something right.
(Probably made us take another 1,000 illegals)

Originally Posted by dataman

Mexico finally did something right.
(Probably made us take another 1,000 illegals)

yea for each one they return.