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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | October 2006 
Mexico Suspends Case Against ‘Dog’ Chapman
 Gene Park - starbulletin.com
| | Duane "Dog" Chapman attended a Honolulu press conference yesterday with his wife, Beth, and his lawyers, Brook Hart and William Bollard, right. Bollard was explaining the status of Chapman's case. (Bruce Asato/Honolulu Advertiser) |
A Mexican court has granted TV star and bounty hunter Duane "Dog" Chapman a stay in his criminal case.
On Oct. 17, an appeals court in Guadalajara granted an order to halt the criminal case, including extradition proceedings, against Chapman, his son Leland and associate Timothy Chapman (no relation) until further evidence and testimony is gathered.
On a request from the Mexican government, U.S. marshals arrested Chapman and his associates last month in Hawaii to face charges over his June 2003 capture of convicted rapist and Max Factor heir Andrew Luster.
Bounty hunting is illegal in Mexico unless supervised by authorities. Chapman faces four to six months in prison if convicted.
Chapman and his attorneys claim he was within his constitutional right in capturing Luster in June 2003.
At a press conference yesterday, California-based attorney William Bollard said Chapman, his son and associate had been under the supervision of someone whom they "reasonably believed" to be an active-duty police officer.
Bollard said trusted people had told the Chapmans the man was an officer, and the man had a badge and a gun.
Bollard said his investigation team had tracked down the man and were trying to determine whether he was a police officer at the time of the June 2003 capture.
The defense attorneys also said Chapman and his crew did not flee Mexico after their initial arrest on a depravation of liberty charge, but stepped across the border based on "faulty" legal advice from Jorge Garza Morales, a lawyer in Mexico.
Bollard accused Morales, whom they have yet to locate, of threatening the Chapmans with more legal problems if $250,000 was not wired to him.
Also as a result of the stay, the bounty hunter's ankle bracelet was removed last week.
Duane Chapman thanked numerous people, including his fans and 29 members of Congress who wrote letters of support. He also mentioned his eagerness to go back to Mexico to catch more felons.
"These guys know where to run where we can't find them," he said. "This is a precedent-setting case, and fugitives are not going to have a place to go and have happy hunting grounds."
The bounty hunter said his arrest had given him new perspective on how he treats the people he captures, adding that maybe he would bring a bottle of water or a Milky Way candy bar for them next time.
"It's like the hunter had become the hunted," he said.
When asked by reporters if he would do it all over again, the bounty hunter said, "You damn right." |
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