Washington – Extradition for the Mexican national charged in a Denver police shooting could take one to three years – if it goes quickly – Sen. Wayne Allard said Monday after meeting with the Mexican ambassador to the United States.
Even then, Raul Gomez-Garcia’s trial could wind up in Mexico, Allard said after his meeting with Ambassador Carlos de Icaza.
“I prefer to have the trial in Colorado, and the family prefers to have it in Colorado,” Allard said. “But I just indicated it as a preference; I didn’t make any demands. … We may not have a choice.”
Gomez-Garcia, 20, is charged in the fatal May 8 shooting of Denver Detective Donald “Donnie” Young. Gomez-Garcia was arrested in Mexico earlier this month, but his return is complicated by the U.S.-Mexico extradition treaty, under which the Mexican government refuses to extradite criminal suspects who may face the death penalty or life in prison without parole.
De Icaza declined to talk to reporters after the afternoon meeting in Allard’s office. He left through a side door as Allard explained to reporters that de Icaza didn’t want any statement to interfere with proceedings in Mexico and possibly delay the process.
But Allard’s chief of staff, Sean Conway, said that during the meeting de Icaza said the Gomez-Garcia case is being handled well. Conway said the ambassador cited an ongoing California case as an example of how a similar process can be handled badly.
In that case, the Los Angeles County district attorney has said he will not forgo death-penalty or life-imprisonment charges against a Mexican national. Police say the suspect fled to Mexico after fatally shooting a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy in 2002.
Last week, Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey took the death penalty off the table in the Denver shooting case to help get Gomez-Garcia extradited to Colorado, a decision Allard said he supported. Morrissey said through spokeswoman Lynn Kimbrough on Monday that he hadn’t spoken with Allard about his meeting and couldn’t comment.
Authorities have 60 days from June 4, the date of Gomez-Garcia’s capture in Mexico, to file the required paperwork with the Mexican government, the first step in the extradition process. Mexican law also allows for Mexican nationals to be prosecuted in their homeland for crimes committed outside the country.
“He indicated to me that this type of case may take one to three years. He said that’s moving along rather quickly as far as Mexican law is concerned,” Allard said after the meeting.
In the meeting, de Icaza agreed to give Allard an update on the case every two weeks, but Allard aides said the most important aspect of Monday’s meeting is that the profile of the case was raised with the Mexican government.
“Hundreds of requests are pending right now,” Conway said. “Moving it from the bottom of the pile to the top is crucial.”
Staff writer Mike Soraghan can be reached at 202-662-8730 or msoraghan@denverpost.com.
