Mexico.- The government of The United States initiated the extradition of César Duarteformer governor of Chihuahua, who will have to face Mexico a process for charges of criminal association and embezzlement of 96.6 million pesos.
Sources close to the case reported today, June 2, 2022, that César Duarte had already been transferred from the Miami prison where he had been since July 2020, so in the next few hours will be extradited to Mexico to be presented before a court in Chihuahua who ordered his arrest.
Last Monday, lawyers for the former governor of Chihuahua gave up the last resort they had tried to stop his delivery to Mexico, which was being processed before the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, based in Atlanta.
That appeal challenged the sentence in which Judge José E. Martínez, of the Court for the Southern District of Florida, rejected the request for habeas corpus, a kind of protection presented by Duarte to challenge his arrest.
Another judge of the same Court, Lauren Fleischer Louis, had certified since November 8 that the extradition request presented by Mexico complies with the requirements of the Treaty between the two countries, and left the final decision of deliver the accused.
The main argument in César Duarte’s habeas corpus claim was that the Treaty requirements were not met, because although he faces an arrest warrant issued by a Chihuahua judge, he has not yet been formally charged in an indictment hearing.
“Mexico has issued an arrest warrant against the complainantso the requirements of the Treaty have been satisfied,” replied Martínez in a judgment notified on March 21, in which I consider it unnecessary to interpret what should be understood by the existence of “formal charges” in a case of this type.
In addition to rejecting the allegations about the unconstitutionality of the process against him, Judge Martínez also denied Duarte a certificate that is an essential requirement to be able to appeal a habeas corpus sentence because there is no constitutional issue that merits prolonging the litigation.
The appeal before the Court of Appeals, therefore, would surely have been dismissed.
In her November ruling, Judge Fleischer Louis held that Mexico provided sufficient evidence that César Duarte diverted public resources for personal benefit during his tenure, between 2011 and 2014.
“Evidence tracking money diverted for personal use, such as Duarte’s wife’s American Express accounts, a couple’s trust, or for the payment of their personal taxes, provides circumstantial evidence that Duarte attempted to deprive the State of Chihuahua of the funds, and that he did it for his own benefit,” the judge said.
We recommend you read:
He stressed that several former collaborators of Duarte, including his former Secretary of Finance, testified against him, and that there are also bank and tax records of the diversion of funds.
Regarding the arguments that his life could be in danger in Mexico, given the personal animosity that now former Governor Javier Corral has against him – whose administration ended in September 2021 – the judge clarified that Duarte could present those allegations to the State Department.
#law #awaits #USA #initiates #extradition #César #Duarte #face #trial #Mexico