Posted on 09/14/2006 11:55:06 AM PDT by Fighting Irish
MSNBC's Rita Cosby is reporting that Duane Dog Chapman, star of the A&E reality series "Dog the Bounty Hunter," and two members of his bounty hunting team (including his son) were arrested by U.S. officials today for extradition to Mexico. Cosby is reporting that Mexican government officials wanted the three men sent back there in relation to a three-year-old case.
In 2003, Chapman traveled to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to retrieve Max Factor cosmetics heir Andrew Luster, who was wanted in the U.S. on rape charges. Luster is now in jail, serving a 124-year term. The Chapmans were jailed in Mexico for a brief time for the incident three years ago. Bounty hunting is considered a crime in Mexico.
Dog's wife, Beth Chapman, said 12 armed marshals "came through the door" at 6:00AM this morning. She said they took their daughter's boyfriend down at gunpoint. Dog was sleeping at the time.
TMZ spoke with Nicky Credic from the U.S. Marshals Office. She said, "The arrest warrant was signed by a U.S. magistrate in Hawaii on September 13. The warrant was based on a formal request based on a diplomatic note from the government of Mexico."
Unfortunately, the OP is correct. The US cannot harbor individuals accused of committing crimes in other countries. Technically, Mexico doesn't harbor criminals either; their issue is with capital punishment, which is why extradition agreements for Mex citizens accused of murder have no-death penalty clauses.
In Dog's case, he could have easily brought in the Federales to make the sting after doing the initial setup. He could have even filmed the whole thing just like he did for himself. If it was a function of money, he could have sweetened the pot for the local officers.
Bottom line is he broke Mexican law. No different from driving south-of-the-border without Mex insurance or transporting firearms over the border. OTOH, you can legally kill yourself playing with fireworks (quarter sticks of TNT, etc) down there, but don't try bringing them back to the US, otherwise you might get charged with possessing explosives.
Uh...excuse me but I'll bet there is a BIG difference between reporting to the "Court" every week in Mexico and reporting to your parole officer or bail bondsman in the USA!!
He's a bounty hunter in Honolulu.
Because our government had been totally corrupted. This "diplomatic request" could have been delayed or ignored for years, but it wasn't.
Eactly what Liddy meant when he referred to "Jack-booted thugs".
So we should deport those son of bitches to Gaza!
Ethnic Hawaiian? If so, no surprise at all.
Los Angeles Shieriff's Deputy David March's widow would agree with you.
Isn't that a bit much for Rufie rape? Life? Compared to pedophiles who get 5 yrs?
Kubo=Japanese
It's too bad we didn't take all the resources we expended in Iraq, and went for regime change in Mexico, instead...
Ping to the islands for comment?!
As for Dog...I have a problem with the powers bounty hunters have to pursue bail jumpers.
Did the feds pull a no-knock on him? If so, that's Karma...what goes around, comes around.
That's what I want to know, too. Dog, Beth, Leland, Tim, and Duane Lee are bounty hunters, and they treat their captured fugitives with respect, dignity, kindness, and sympathy. They're responsible for the rehabilitation of many people, and America is lucky to have them.
Anyone know how we can help? Or at least send messages of support?
True, but is Mexico alone in making bounty hunting illegal then pressing kidnapping charges on the bounty hunter that takes the scum back to the US? The Mexican gov't scoffed at our request to extradite Luster for rape and murder. Our own judge oks a warrant on behalf of Mexico to arrest and extradite a US bounty hunter for arresting and bringing Luster back to the US.. WTF?
Huh?
The fact of the matter is bounty hunters have no powers of arrest anywhere outside of the United States. The truth is Duane "Dog" Chapman as well as his son and brother are not only in violation of Mexican law, they were operating in violation of Reese v. United States, wherein the U.S. Supreme Court made it clear that a bondsman’s or bounty hunter’s “power of arrest can only be exercised within the territory of the United States". This is well known by skip tracers.
Chapman operated as a publicity-seeking loose canon rather than a professional bail bondsman. Since he is in violation of not only Mexican law but of Reese as well, I doubt there will be much help forthcoming from the U.S. government.
Reese, 76 U.S. at 21.
I would be too. Beth can be heck on wheels when she's angry. lol
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