Mexico wants bounty hunters returned for trial
By Daniel Hernandez
Los Angeles Times
Duane "Dog" Chapman, the Hawai'i-based bounty hunter who nabbed fugitive rapist Andrew Luster, was himself declared a fugitive yesterday by Mexican authorities after he failed to show up for a court hearing related to last month's capture of Luster in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
Associated Press library photo
Chapman, along with his brother Timothy and son Leland, were let free but ordered to remain within Puerto Vallarta city limits while facing trial on a charge of depriving Luster's liberty during their capture. But instead of checking in with Judge Jose Jesus de Pineda on Monday, Chapman was in a courthouse in Ventura County, Calif., seeking a portion of the $1 million bail Luster forfeited when he fled.
Duane "Dog" Chapman helped capture a fugitive rapist on June 18.
"They abused the benefits that the law here gave them. They think they're heroes; they think they're above the law," said Marco Roberto Juarez, Puerto Vallarta district attorney. "We can now consider them fugitives."
Juarez said an order for Chapman's "recapture" will likely be issued this week. Mexican authorities also said they will request that the United States extradite Chapman to remain behind bars until his trial is completed, Juarez said.
Legal experts, however, said Mexico is unlikely to win extradition. While the United States and Mexico have a extradition treaty, Chapman's case is unique, they said. In the end, Chapman's alleged offense will likely be trumped by the good that came of catching Luster, said Douglas McNabb, an extradition lawyer based in Houston.
"Even though there's a treaty in place, that's certainly not an automatic," McNabb said. "He was going down to try to find a very serious felon who jumped a state bond. He was trying to bring him back to serve a sentence, and I think there's a lot of good in what he did."
But another lawyer cautioned against dismissing the Mexican case for extradition.
"This case is an exact reason why the rule of law should apply, because we wouldn't want the Mexican government to circumvent the extradition treaty" in cases where the United States wants someone extradited, said Los Angeles attorney Paul Hoffman, who litigated a high-profile extradition case between the United States and Mexico in the 1990s.
"What's the point of having an extradition treaty if when Mexico wants to apply it, the U.S. doesn't respond?" he asked.
The only reason for not allowing extradition, Hoffman said, would be if there was proof that Chapman would face abuse or torture in Mexico. Chapman's longtime partner Beth Smith this week said Chapman was treated inhumanely during his four nights in jail, an allegation that officials in Mexico denied yesterday.
Smith dismissed the Mexican trial as a "pretty nothing case" and said Chapman will not be returning "under any circumstances."
She said Chapman crossed the border legally through Tijuana, where U.S. Border Patrol agents greeted him with high fives.
Chapman did not return calls seeking comment yesterday.
Duane, Timothy and Leland Chapman, in addition to two cameramen, captured Luster on June 18 on a Puerto Vallarta street. Luster was brought back to the United States and is now serving a 124-year sentence in state prison for drugging and raping three women.
The capture came five months after Luster — the great-grandson of cosmetics legend Max Factor — bolted during his trial in Ventura County. He was convicted in absentia.
