The charges were dropped by the Mexi government. This is something out of left field.
And as for obeying Mexican law.....screw Mexican law.
At a time proximate to the arrest:
PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico — Five Americans were released from a Mexican jail Saturday, days after allegedly capturing the fugitive heir to the Max Factor (search) fortune, a convicted rapist.
But the five, including three bounty hunters, a television producer and an actor, must remain in Mexico under the terms of the release, their attorneys said. Authorities did not comment on the release. Leaving police custody Saturday, the men declined to be interviewed.
Hawaii-based Duane "Dog" Chapman ; his brother, Timothy; his son, Leland; producer Jeff Sells and actor Boris Krutonog were arrested Wednesday about two hours after they captured Andrew Luster near a Puerto Vallarta taco stand where he had just ordered breakfast.
Authorities expelled Luster to the United States, and the cosmetics heir has begun a serving a 124-year prison sentence in Los Angeles for drugging and raping three women.
Mexican prosecutor Marco Roberto Juarez said Friday the five Americans will be charged with criminal association and illegal deprivation of liberty, similar to kidnapping without requesting a ransom. Both charges carry a maximum of four years in prison.
Later:
July 4, 2003 (AP)
Three bounty hunters facing charges over their capture of fugitive rapist Andrew Luster can travel where they want as long as they show up at court here each Monday, the judge overseeing the case said.
"They can do what they want with their free time," Judge Jose de Jesus Pineda Gutierrez told The Associated Press on Wednesday after being told that Duane "Dog" Chapman, his son Leland and brother Timothy, had returned to Los Angeles. Pineda last month ordered the three tried on charges of criminal association and deprivation of liberty for a predawn seizure of Luster, the Max Factor heir convicted in absentia in California of drugging and raping three women.
Prosecutors say the bounty hunters had no legal standing in Mexico and should have gone to police instead of snagging Luster themselves. Each of the charges carries a maximum sentence of four years, though attorneys said Mexico's complex sentencing laws mean the maximum possible sentence would fall well short of eight years. The case was to be handed over to a judge in Guadalajara in the coming weeks.
Pineda released the bounty hunters on 15,000 pesos (US$1,430) bail each on the condition that they sign in at the court in Puerto Vallarta each Monday. Mexican immigration officials added a bail of 3,000 pesos each - less than US$300. If the defendants don't appear, an arrest warrant could be issued and they could be imprisoned if they return to Mexico.
During a news conference in Beverly Hills, California, on Wednesday, Chapman said he would return to Mexico "soon." "We still don't think we broke the law," he said. Chapman's U.S. attorney, James E. Blancarte, said he did not expect that his client would have to serve more prison time in Mexico.
Authorities briefly detained and charged a television producer and actor who went along with the bounty hunters to videotape Luster's capture, but Pineda threw out the charges against them.
If you can find credible evidence that the charges were dropped against Dog, his son and brother great. Send it to the Judge, because clearly he doesn't think the charges were dropped.........