Case of bounty hunter who caught Ventura man is cleared for now { Duane "Dog" Chapman }

AP via SFGate ^ | 8/2/7

[SmithL]

PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico (AP) -- A Mexican judge has ruled to close the criminal case against bounty hunter and TV reality star Duane "Dog" Chapman, but state prosecutors have appealed the decision, officials said Thursday.

In the July 27 ruling, Judge Jose Alberto Montes ruled the statute of limitations had expired on the case, said Guillermo Diaz, assistant prosecutor for the state of Jalisco, where Puerto Vallarta is located.

Chapman was arrested in September by U.S. authorities on a Mexican warrant stemming from his 2003 capture of fugitive convicted rapist and Max Factor cosmetics heir Andrew Luster in Puerto Vallarta.

Luster jumped a $1 million bond and disappeared during his trial in Ventura, Calif., on charges that he drugged and raped three women. The disappearance set off a national and international manhunt by police, FBI and bounty hunters trying to recoup some of the bond money. Luster is now serving a 124-year prison term.

Bounty hunting is illegal in Mexico.

State prosecutors, however, want to continue pursuing Mexico's request to have Chapman extradited,

[Saundra Duffy]

Yikes! I thought it was over. Several months ago, when this was still up in the air, I wrote a letter to U.S. Marshalls chewing them out and got a snotty reply. Why isn’t this over? I saw Mr. & Mrs. “Dog” on TV and they said they were relieved.