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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | December 2005 
Mexico's High Court Decision Opens an Extradition Pipeline
 Hugh Dellios - Chicago Tribune
| | Life sentences had been banned by law in Mexico, although the courts often used compound sentences or other means to keep some notorious criminals behind bars indefinitely. |
Mexico City - Prosecutors in the United States are gearing up to target elusive drug kingpins and fugitive murder suspects in Mexico in the wake of a landmark Mexican Supreme Court decision paving the way for extraditions even if the suspects face life sentences in the United States.
Imprisoned drug capos such as Benjamin Arellano, Osiel Cardenas and Hector Palma are among the narco-traffickers and murder suspects wanted in the U.S. but who couldn't before be extradited because Mexican law held that life sentences are "cruel and unusual" punishment.
Last month's Supreme Court ruling was hailed by prosecutors in the U.S., who had been required to guarantee they would not seek life sentences or death penalties for returned suspects. Mexico will still refuse to return suspects facing death.
While some U.S. prosecutors had made the assurances or reduced charges to get fugitives back, others refused and in some cases declined to even seek an extradition because they didn't want another country dictating appropriate punishments in the U.S.
"This is a tremendous victory for the victims and for our sovereignty," said Janice Maurizi, a Los Angeles County deputy district attorney whose office had been a vocal critic of the Mexican policy. "There's now a lot of dusting off of old cases and preparing new paperwork."
Officials said 22 extradition requests have been turned down by Mexico because of a 2001 Mexican Supreme Court ruling preventing extradition of anyone unless Mexico was guaranteed the suspect would not spend life in prison. In some cases, the courts ruled the guarantee had arrived too late.
A U.S. official said there was an "undetermined" number of cases of prosecutors in the U.S. either "unwilling or unable" to seek extradition because of the required guarantee. Some prosecutors complained that strict sentencing guidelines prevented it or that it was a jury's decision.
Putting it to the test
The U.S. government already has refiled a few cases to test the new ruling, officials said. Mexican officials told local media that they had stepped up security around the imprisoned drug kingpins, in case of any trouble like the breakout that Palma attempted in 2002.
Late Thursday, justice officials informed Palma, once a powerful leader of the Sinaloa drug cartel, that the extradition case against him was moving forward. But they said Friday that the current petition was filed before the court ruling and therefore would require a guarantee against a life sentence.
Mexico also would require Palma and others to first serve any prison sentences imposed by Mexican courts.
U.S. prosecutors say the ruling gives them more hope of extraditing several suspected killers who had fled to Mexico.
Among those are a suspect in the slaying of a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy in 2002 and a suspect in the slaying of a North Side Chicago restaurant hostess in 2005. Officials would not comment on either case because the two suspects are still at large.
"In our minds, it's a very good decision, and it ultimately will be helpful in bringing more defendants back to the U.S.," said Bernie Murray, chief of criminal prosecutions in the Cook County state's attorney's office. "There are some families of victims who have been upset that defendants could not get the death penalty, or natural life. They want justice."
Some U.S. officials were more cautious, saying they first want to analyze how the Mexican courts implement the new ruling on a case-by-case basis. The ruling follows an earlier Supreme Court decision making life sentences possible within Mexico.
President Vicente Fox, whom U.S. Embassy officials praise for his government's increased cooperation on extraditions, also welcomed the new ruling. He said that "what I most want" is to ship Mexico's 12 top drug-trafficking kingpins to the U.S. to face tougher punishment, such as life sentences.
"I hope very soon to send all of them to face [American] justice," Fox said this month during an interview.
New ruling welcomed
The new ruling came as some U.S. officials were trying to turn up the political heat on Mexico to drop the life-sentence barrier.
After a suspect fled to Mexico in May after allegedly killing Denver police Detective Donald Young, a Colorado congressman shepherded legislation to approval in the U.S. House that would cut foreign aid to countries that don't extradite such fugitives back to the U.S.
The timing of the ruling coincided with a rethinking in Mexico about legal punishments because of a heightened sense of insecurity in the streets. The country suffers from a plague of kidnappings and drug-related killings, especially in cities along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The death sentence is banned by Mexico's Constitution, which was crafted by early 20th Century revolutionary leaders disdainful of how unequally it was applied in the past, mistrustful of justice institutions and convinced that all criminals can be rehabilitated.
Life sentences also had been banned by law in Mexico, although the courts often used compound sentences or other means to keep some notorious criminals behind bars indefinitely.
U.S. officials said they doubt that prosecutors now can go back and seek life sentences for suspects extradited after Mexico received the guarantee. In many cases, prosecutors tried to design charges for which the suspects would face long prison terms that could add up to life anyway.
Tribune staff writers David Heinzmann and Jeff Coen contributed to this article. hdellios@tribune.com |
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