Prasoprat v. Benov, CV028751HLHJWJ.

Citation294 F.Supp.2d 1165
Decision Date25 November 2003
Docket NumberNo. CV028751HLHJWJ.,CV028751HLHJWJ.
CourtUnited States District Courts. 9th Circuit. United States District Courts. 9th Circuit. Central District of California
PartiesSuwit PRASOPRAT, Petitioner, v. Michael BENOV, Warden,<SMALL><SUP>1</SUP></SMALL> Respondent.

Barry O. Bernstein, Burbank, CA, for petitioner.

Daniel S. Goodman, Mark Aveis, Los Angeles, CA, for respondent.

ORDER ADOPTING REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION OF UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

HUPP, District Judge.

Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(C), the Court has reviewed the instant Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus and other papers along with the attached Report and Recommendation of the United States Magistrate Judge, and has made a de novo determination of the Report and Recommendation. Further, the Court has engaged in a de novo review of those portions of the Report to which Petitioner has objected.

IT IS ORDERED that a Judgment be entered denying the instant Petition.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that petitioner's April 3, 2003 request that this court take judicial notice of a Los Angeles Times article about Thailand's war on drugs be denied.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Clerk shall serve forthwith a copy of this Order and the Judgment of this date on petitioner and counsel for respondent.

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION OF UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

JOHNSON, United States Magistrate Judge.

This Report and Recommendation is submitted to the Hon. Harry L. Hupp, United States District Judge, by United States Magistrate Judge Jeffrey W. Johnson, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636 and General Order 194 of the United States District Court for the Central District of California. For the reasons discussed below, it is recommended that the instant Petition be dismissed with prejudice.

I. BACKGROUND

In 1998, Drug Enforcement Administration ("DEA") Special Agent PiamBoon Tepsuporn was investigating heroin trafficking between the Kingdom of Thailand and the United States. ("Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus by a Person in Federal Custody Pursuant to Title 28 United States Code Section 2241," p. 7.)2 At that time, a confidential informant ("CI") informed him of petitioner's suspected involvement in the trafficking. (Id. at 8.) The DEA conducted surveillance of petitioner for the next three years. (Id. at 8-11.)

On May 17, 2001, an Assistant United States Attorney, acting for and on behalf of the Government of the Kingdom of Thailand, filed a complaint for an extradition arrest warrant against petitioner and another individual. (Opposition, p. 1.) That same day, United States Magistrate Judge George T. Swartz issued an arrest warrant. (Id.) On June 5, 2001, United States Magistrate Judge Brian Q. Robbins held a detention hearing and ordered petitioner detained. (Id.) On June 15, 2001, the United States filed a request for extradition.

On December 11, 2001, petitioner filed a motion for discovery. The motion sought "any and all documentation or any other evidence that shows the current Thai law, drug policies, penalties for drug offenses, and political agenda relating to drugs." (Id. at 2.) Petitioner also sought "names and access to United States officials most qualified on above-mentioned subjects for the purpose of interviews, depositions, or to include on witness lists." (Id.) On February 5, 2002, United States Magistrate Judge Jeffrey W. Johnson held a hearing and denied the motion. (Id. at 3.)

On April 24, 2002, Magistrate Judge Johnson held an extradition hearing. (Id.) After hearing testimony and viewing a videotape made during the surveillance of petitioner, the magistrate judge found that there was probable cause to believe that petitioner was the individual charged in Thailand and that there was probable cause that the fugitive was engaged in the charged offense, conspiracy to distribute heroin. (Id.) On April 30, 2002, Magistrate Judge Johnson issued an extradition certification finding petitioner extraditable and certifying the matter to the United States Secretary of State. (Id. at 4.) In that certification, the magistrate judge concluded that he had subject matter jurisdiction, that he had personal jurisdiction over petitioner, that an extradition treaty between the United States and the Kingdom of Thailand was at all relevant times in full force and effect, that the offense with which the fugitive is charged in Thailand was an extraditable offense under the treaty, and that there was probable cause to believe that the fugitive is the person named in the Thai arrest warrant and committed the charged offense. (Id.; 4/30/02 Extradition Certification, p. 3.)

On October 31, 2002, petitioner filed in the Ninth Circuit a request to stay his extradition pending the outcome of a petition for writ of habeas corpus. The motion was transferred to this Court, and Magistrate Judge Johnson granted the motion. On December 23, 2002, petitioner filed the instant Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus by a Person in Federal Custody (28 U.S.C. § 2241).

II. DISCUSSION
A. Legal Standard

Extradition from the United States is governed by 18 U.S.C. § 3184, which confers jurisdiction on any justice or judge of the United States or any authorized magistrate to conduct an extradition hearing under the relevant extradition treaty between the United States and the requesting nation. The extradition magistrate's authority is limited to determining whether (1) the crime is extraditable, and (2) probable cause exists to sustain the charge. Cornejo-Barreto v. Seifert, 218 F.3d 1004, 1009 (9th Cir.2000). If these two requirements are met, the extradition magistrate must certify the individual as extraditable to the Secretary of State. See 18 U.S.C. § 3184. The magistrate judge has no discretion; extradition is a matter of foreign policy entirely within the discretion of the executive branch, except to the extent the statute interposes a judicial function. Lopez-Smith v. Hood, 121 F.3d 1322, 1326 (9th Cir.1997).

The well-settled "rule of non-inquiry" requires extradition courts to refrain from inquiring into "procedures or treatment which await a surrendered fugitive in the requesting country." See, e.g., Mainero v. Gregg, 164 F.3d 1199, 1205 n. 6 (9th Cir. 1999); Arnbjornsdottir-Mendler v. United States, 721 F.2d 679, 683 (9th Cir.1983).

"The scope of habeas review of an extradition order is severely limited." Mainero, 164 F.3d at 1205. In the area of extradition, habeas corpus is not available except to determine three specific questions: (1) whether the extradition court had jurisdiction; (2) whether the offense charged was within the extradition treaty; and (3) whether there was any evidence warranting a finding that there were reasonable grounds to believe the accused guilty. Fernandez v. Phillips, 268 U.S. 311, 312, 45 S.Ct. 541, 69 L.Ed. 970 (1925); accord Mainero, 164 F.3d at 1205; Bozilov v. Seifert, 983 F.2d 140, 142 (9th Cir.1992). Implicit within these questions are whether the extradition court had jurisdiction over the fugitive, and whether the extradition treaty was in full force and effect. See Hooker v. Klein, 573 F.2d 1360, 1368 (9th Cir.1978). If these elements are present, the decision of the extradition magistrate "may not be reviewed on habeas corpus." Charlton v. Kelly, 229 U.S. 447, 456, 33 S.Ct. 945, 57 L.Ed. 1274 (1913).

The reason for strictly limiting the jurisdiction of extradition and habeas courts to consideration of the specific questions discussed above has been expressed as follows:

The need for flexibility in the exercise of Executive discretion is heightened in international extradition proceedings which necessarily implicate the foreign policy interests of the United States. Thus, while Congress has provided that extraditability shall be determined in the first instance by a judge or magistrate, 18 U.S.C. § 3184, the ultimate decision to extradite is ordinarily a matter within the exclusive purview of the Executive.

Emami v. U.S. District Court, 834 F.2d 1444, 1454 (9th Cir.1987) (internal quotation marks omitted) (quoting Escobedo v. United States, 623 F.2d 1098, (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 1036, 101 S.Ct. 612, 66 L.Ed.2d 497 (1980)).

United States citizenship does not bar extradition by the United States. Charlton, 229 U.S. at 467-68, 33 S.Ct. 945; Quinn v. Robinson, 783 F.2d 776, 782 (9th Cir.1986).

B. Discovery Motion

Petitioner claims that the extradition magistrate violated his due process rights by denying his discovery motion seeking disclosure of information relating to the use of the death penalty as punishment for drug crimes in Thailand. (Form Petition, p. 3.)

However, a fugitive in an extradition case has no right to discovery. See Jhirad v. Ferrandina, 536 F.2d 478, 484 (2d Cir.1976); Matter of Extradition of Mainero, 990 F.Supp. 1208, 1220 n. 26 (S.D.Cal.1997); see also id. at 1222 n. 33 ("There is no authority that exists that requires a magistrate judge to authorize compelled disclosures of explanatory information."). In addition, an extradition magistrate does not have discretion to consider a discovery request for, or make an inquiry into, the conditions that might be encountered by a fugitive upon return to the requesting country. See Matter of the Extradition of Sandhu, 886 F.Supp. 318, 321-23 (S.D.N.Y.1993) (denying request to present evidence of treatment that fugitive will receive upon return to India, based on "rule of non-inquiry"); Sindona v. Grant, 619 F.2d 167, 174-75 (2d Cir.1980) (degree of risk to fugitive's life from extradition is "an issue that properly falls within the exclusive purview of the executive branch"). Petitioner's citations to Yin-Choy v. Robinson, 858 F.2d 1400, 1407 (9th Cir.1988), (Petition, pp. 13-14), are not contrary to this principle.3

Further, a discovery ruling in an extradition proceeding is not reviewable by a habeas court; habeas review is limited to the three specific questions discussed above. Charlton v. Kelly, 229 U.S. 447, 457, 33 S.Ct. 945, 57 L.Ed. 1274 (1913) ("[M]ere errors in the rejection of evidence are not subject...

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    ...an inquiry into the conditions that might be encountered by a fugitive upon return to the requesting country.” Prasoprat v. Benov, 294 F.Supp.2d 1165, 1169 (C.D.Cal.2003). Cf. Sindona, 619 F.2d at 174–75 (degree of risk to fugitive's life from extradition is “an issue that properly falls wi......
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