The U.S. government was trying to send Chapman, his son Leland Chapman and a third man to the resort town of Puerto Vallarta, where they were charged with kidnapping Andrew Luster, a Max Factor heir who had jumped a $1 million bond on charges that he drugged and raped three women. Luster's disappearance during his trial in Ventura set off an international manhunt by police, FBI and bounty hunters trying to recoup some of the bond money.

On June 18, 2003, Chapman and the other men apprehended Luster, and the fugitive was taken back to the United States to serve the 124-year sentence he was given while on the lam.

But because bounty hunting is illegal in Mexico, prosecutors in that country charged the three with kidnapping and asked U.S. authorities to arrest the trio and ship them to Puerto Vallarta.

On July 27, a Mexican judge dismissed the charges, ruling that Mexican prosecutors had taken too long in their attempts to bring the trio to trial. But the U.S. attorney's office in Honolulu, where the senior Chapman lives, declined to dismiss the extradition proceedings because Mexican prosecutors are appealing the judge's ruling.

Still, U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Kurren in Honolulu on Monday dismissed the extradition attempt because the judge said the trio are no longer charged with any offenses, despite the appeal.

"I don't think they have any regrets whatsoever in facilitating the capture of Mr. Luster, who is a known and convicted rapist," his San Francisco lawyer, James Quadra, said Monday. "Though this has been a difficult process, they are proud of what they have done."

Quadra declined to comment on the tempest Chapman created last week when he was caught on tape using the racial epithet.

A&E pulled Chapman's show "Dog the Bounty Hunter" from the air indefinitely after a private phone conversation between the reality star and his son was posted online.