In re Extradition Vladimir Blasko to the Slovak Republic
| Decision Date | 01 August 2018 |
| Docket Number | No. 1:17-mc-00067-DAD-SAB,1:17-mc-00067-DAD-SAB |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of California |
| Parties | IN THE MATTER OF THE EXTRADITION OF VLADIMIR BLASKO TO THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC |
On December 29, 2017, Vladimir Blasko filed a motion seeking his release on bail pending resolution of this international extradition proceeding. (Doc. No. 16.) On February 16, 2018, United States Magistrate Judge Barbara A. McAuliffe denied that motion. (Doc. No. 22.) On March 27, 2018, Blasko sought review of the order denying bail. (Doc. No. 35.) On April 30, 2018, the undersigned held a hearing on the matter. (Doc. No. 38.) Assistant Federal Defenders Reed Grantham and Victor Chavez appeared on behalf of Blasko. Assistant U.S. Attorney Vincenza Rabenn appeared on behalf of the government. The court heard oral argument and took the matter under submission.
For the reasons explained below, Blasko's request for bail (Doc. No. 35) will be granted.
On June 6, 2017, the Embassy of the Slovak Republic sent a written request to the United States Department of State requesting the extradition of Vladimir Blasko, a citizen of Slovakia residing in Fresno, California, pursuant to Treaties and Instruments between the United States and the Czechoslovak Republic and the Slovak Republic as well as the Agreement on Extradition between the United States of America and the European Union signed on June 25, 2003 (collectively "the Treaty"). (Doc. No. 1 at 7.) On October 2, 2017, the government initiated this extradition proceeding by filing a complaint in this court, seeking the arrest and extradition of Blasko pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §§ 3181, et seq. (Id. at 1-4.)1 According to the allegations of that complaint, Slovakia seeks the extradition of Blasko to serve a four-year aggregate sentence of imprisonment imposed in connection with his April 15, 2013 conviction in that country, following a trial in abstentia for abuse of power and misdemeanor assault.2 (Id. at 2.) The extradition complaint also alleged that Blasko's four-year aggregate sentence was affirmed on appeal on November 7, 2013 and that a warrant for his arrest was issued by the District Court in Nitra, Slovakia on January 21, 2014. (Id.)
Blasko was arrested and made his initial appearance in this court on October 6, 2017. (Doc. No. 9.) He has remained in custody since that date. (Doc. No. 10.) On October 6, 2017, the government filed a memorandum of law in opposition to bail. (Doc. No. 8.) On December 29, 2017, Blasko filed a motion for bail and opposition to the government's memorandum. (Doc. No. 16.) The government filed its opposition to the motion seeking the setting of bail on January 18, 2018, and counsel for Blasko filed a reply on January 26, 2018. (Doc. Nos. 18, 19.) As noted above, Magistrate Judge Barbara A. McAuliffe of this court held a hearing on the bail motion on
/////
/////
///// February 15, 2018, and the following day, issued an order denying bail. (Doc. Nos. 21, 22.)3
On February 26, 2018, Blasko filed a notice of appeal from the denial of bail. (Doc. No. 24.) On March 27, 2018, the opening brief in support of the request for bail was submitted. (Doc. No. 35.) The government filed its opposition on April 17, 2018, and Blasko filed his reply on April 17, 2018. (Doc. Nos. 36, 37.) On April 30, 2018, the undersigned held a hearing and took the matter under submission. (Doc. No. 38.) On July 30, 2018, Blasko filed a supplemental memorandum in support of his request for bail. (Doc. No. 44.)
The facts and history of this unusual extradition case, though somewhat lengthy and complex, are pertinent to the court's bail determination and bear summarizing here. Blasko was employed as a law enforcement officer for the Regional directorate of Police Forces in Nitra, Slovakia, from July 1, 2004 to October 20, 2009. On the evening of July 13, 2007, while on duty, Blasko and his partner officer Michal Krajmer responded to a call that two women had reported being harassed and slapped by men inside a bar. (See generally Doc. No. 1 at 48-76.) Though what transpired next remains unclear and the subject of considerable dispute,4 Blasko and Krajmer ultimately arrested two patrons of the bar, Zoltan Peli and Boris Kozma, for disorderly conduct and assault on a public official. (Id. at 48-76.) The same day, the District Directorate of Police Corps filed criminal charges against Peli and Kozma. (Doc. No. 35-1, Ex. C.) On January 14, 2009, the Slovakian Military District Prosecution suspended the charges against Kozma, but on October 9, 2009, Peli was convicted of disorderly conduct for his actions on the evening of July 13, 2007. (Doc. No. 1 at 69-70.)
Although the record before this court remains somewhat unclear, Blasko was apparently either accused, charged or indicted on January 8, 2008 for abuse of power and misdemeanor infliction of bodily harm in violation of the Slovakian Penal Code in relation to the July 13, 2007 incident. (See Doc. No. 1 at 11; Doc. No. 35-1, Ex. D.) However, counsel for Blasko in these proceedings points out that no charging documents have been produced in this court. (Doc. No. 35 at 12.) In fact, even though he was allegedly indicted in January of 2008, it appears that Blasko remained employed as a law enforcement officer in Slovakia until October 20, 2009, at which time he was terminated without explanation. Moreover, prior to his termination and during the time between January 2008 and October 2009, his counsel here has submitted documentation that Blasko received four positive work performance reviews with no mention of any allegations of the misconduct on his part. (Doc. No. 35-1, Ex. E.)
In December 2009, Blasko married Martina Gregusova in Nitra, Slovakia, while Gregusova was home on her winter break from college in the United States. (Doc. No. 35-1, Ex. G.) Gregusova had been enrolled at Fresno Pacific University since January 22, 2009. (Doc. No. 35-1, Ex. H.) Following their wedding, Blasko obtained a Slovakian passport. (Doc. No. 35-1, Ex. I.) He also applied for and obtained from the United States Embassy in Slovakia an F-1 student visa. (Doc. No. 35-1, Ex. J.) On January 27, 2010, Blasko received notification from Fresno Pacific University that he had been accepted to that university's Language and Culture Studies Program. (Doc. No. 35-2, Ex. CC.) Blasko alleges that he provided a copy of this letter to the police department in Nitra, because he had been engaged in civil proceedings since his termination contesting the police department's decision to withhold payment of his hospital bills and severance pay. (Doc. No. 35-1, Ex. F.)
///// Thereafter, using his Slovakian passport and student visa, Blasko left Slovakia and arrived in the United States on February 26, 2010, and attended Fresno Pacific University between February and August 2010. On June 3, 2010, allegedly unbeknownst to Blasko, the Slovakian government filed charges against him relating to the July 13, 2007 incident. (Doc. No. 1 at 11, 105.) Again, Blasko notes that no formal charging documents have ever been produced in this court establishing that charges were filed against him on either January 8, 2008 or June 3, 2010. (Doc. No. 35 at 14.) On June 9, 2011, the District Court in Nitra, Slovakia issued an international warrant for his arrest. (Doc. No. 35-1, Ex. D.) That warrant identified Blasko's last known location as 1717 South Chestnut Avenue in Fresno, California, the address of Fresno Pacific University where he was a student. (Id.) Blasko contends that he was unaware of any of these legal proceedings occurring in Slovakia in his absence. (Doc. No. 35 at 14-15.)
On February 15, 2012, U.S. Department of Homeland Security officers arrested Blasko at his home in Fresno, for allegedly failing to maintain the conditions required by his non-immigrant visa status. (Doc. No. 35-1, Ex. L; Ex. M at ¶ 4.) Blasko was informed that he would have to appear before an immigration judge on March 6, 2012, and that he would be transported to a federal detention facility in Arizona to be held in immigration custody until that time. (Doc. No. 35 at 15.) The day following his arrest, Blasko's wife Gregusova hired immigration attorney Jennifer L. Doerrie to represent Blasko in the immigration proceedings. (Doc. No. 35-1, Ex. M at ¶ 2.)
At the March 6, 2012 immigration bond hearing, attorney Doerrie learned that Slovakia had issued an international warrant for Blasko's arrest. (Id. at ¶ 6.) Though attorney Doerrie attempted to gain further information from Blasko, it was clear to her that Blasko had no knowledge of the arrest warrant or what it pertained to. (Id. at ¶¶ 6, 8.) To provide time to investigate the matter, the bond hearing was continued to March 19, 2012. (Id. at ¶¶ 6-7.) At the March 19, 2012 bond hearing in Immigration Court, the Assistant Chief Counsel presented a copy of the international arrest warrant, in light of which the immigration judge denied bond. (Id. at ¶ 7.)
///// Following various interviews with Blasko and his family throughout March and April 2012, on April 20, 2012, Doerrie filed an I-589 asylum application on Blasko's behalf, seeking withholding of his removal and protection under the United Nations Convention Against Torture. (Id. at ¶ 9.) A hearing on the merits of that application was originally set for June 11, 2012. (Id.)
In advance of the June 11, 2012 immigration hearing, however, attorney Doerrie filed a motion for review of the immigration judge's denial of bond, on the grounds that Slovakia had failed to comply with the terms of its bilateral extradition treaty with the United States, which required Slovakia to file a formal extradition request within two months of an arrest on a provisional warrant. (Id. at ¶¶ 6, 10.) At the June 11, 2012 hearing, the immigration judge found that...
To continue reading
Request your trial