Mexican authorities did a superb job in quickly capturing suspected cop-killer Raul Gomez-Garcia, but the possibility that his extradition might drag on has sown frustration among state and local officials. We don’t blame them.
After a meeting with Mexican Ambassador Carlos de Icaza, Sen. Wayne Allard said that Gomez-Garcia, a Mexican national, still could end up being tried in Mexico. Allard spoke for all of us when he said he’d prefer Gomez be tried in Colorado, adding, “I didn’t make any demands.”
Sen. Ken Salazar earlier called U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Mexican Attorney General Daniel Cabeza de Vaca to urge the timely extradition of Gomez-Garcia, who’s accused of killing Denver Detective Donnie Young and wounding Detective John Bishop May 8.
Under a 1978 treaty with the U.S., Mexico won’t extradite suspects facing a possible death penalty, nor, under a 2001 Mexican Supreme Court decision, those facing life in prison without possibility of parole.
Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey moved quickly to ease Gomez-Garcia’s extradition by drawing up a lesser murder count to accommodate Mexican law.
Morrissey wants the Washington politicians to pipe down. We don’t see that Allard or Salazar have been out of line, but he may have been thinking about Rep. Bob Beauprez, whose ill-considered remark about “Mexican time” surely won’t prompt Mexican authorities to speed up the extradition process. The congressman quickly and appropriately apologized, but he also says he is weighing legislation to punish Mexico.
Mexico’s legal safeguards and due process should be accorded the same respect as our own. Even so, there’s no reason under treaty or law that U.S. officials should not emphasize to Mexico the inherent justice of cooperating with Morrissey to return Gomez-Garcia to face timely trial.
