Ramos v. Diaz
| Decision Date | 18 December 1959 |
| Docket Number | 9414-M.,Civ. No. 9413-M |
| Parties | Jose F. RAMOS, Vice Consul in behalf of the Republic of Cuba, Plaintiff, v. Humberto Rodrianez DIAZ, Defendant. Jose F. RAMOS, Vice Consul in behalf of the Republic of Cuba, Plaintiff, v. Roberto Perez CRUZATA, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of Florida |
Worton & Cline, Miami, Fla., for plaintiff.
Richard H. Hunt, Miami, Fla., for defendant Humberto Rodrianez Diaz.
Hugh M. Tartaglia, Miami, Fla., for defendant Roberto Perez Cruzata.
The above entitled causes, consolidated for the purpose of these proceedings, came on to be heard upon the Complaints for extradition heretofore filed by the Plaintiff, Jose F. Ramos, Vice Consul in behalf of the Republic of Cuba, seeking the surrender and extradition of the Defendants, Humberto Rodrianez Diaz and Roberto Perez Cruzata.
The Complaints allege that the Defendants are fugitives from justice within the provisions of the Treaty of Extradition between the United States and Cuba, that they have been duly tried, convicted, and sentenced for the crime of murder in Cuba and have escaped from prison in that country, and that they are now within the territorial jurisdiction of this Court.
This Court, after examining the Complaints, issued warrants upon which the Defendants were apprehended and they are presently held in custody thereunder, in default of bond.
In accordance with the provisions of § 3184 Title 18 U.S.C.A., a hearing was held by the Court on said Complaints at which time the demanding government filed in evidence, under the certificate of the United States Chargé d'affaires at Havana, Cuba, in compliance with § 3190 of Title 18 U.S.C.A., a transcript of the proceedings of the Purging and Investigation Commission of the Military Department of La Cabana, Havana, sitting as an Ordinary Court Martial. This record showed that after trial before it, the said Court found the Defendants guilty of the murder of one Rafael Escalona Almedia at Havana on January 10, 1959. It further showed that the said Court sentenced the Defendant Diaz to twenty years imprisonment and the Defendant Cruzata to fifteen years imprisonment for the said offense and that after commencement of service of the said sentences, both Defendants escaped from prison on July 1, 1959, and took refuge in the United States at Miami, Florida.
The said transcript was the only evidence offered by the Cuban government in support of its demand. The only evidence offered on behalf of the Defendants was the oral testimony of the Defendant Diaz, which evidence was offered also on behalf of the Defendant Cruzata, who did not testify.
The right of a foreign power to demand the extradition of one accused of crime and the correlative duty to surrender him exists only when created by treaty; and in the United States, in the absence of statutory or treaty provision therefor, no authority exists in any branch of the government to surrender a fugitive criminal to a foreign government.1
Jurisdiction in extradition cases is vested in Federal District Courts Title 18 U.S.C.A. § 3184. There is a valid existing treaty between the government of the United States and the government of the demanding nation, the Republic of Cuba, providing for extradition, which was entered into by both nations on April 6, 1904 33 Stat. 2265. This treaty was later amended 33 Stat. 2273 and an additional treaty was entered into by the high contracting parties in 1926 44 Stat. 2392 adding certain offenses to those already listed in the prior treaties. Although Article II, Paragraph 1, of the treaty of April 6, 1904, as amended, which is still in force and effect, makes murder an extraditable crime, together with other crimes not pertinent to these cases, Article VI of the same treaty specifically exempts therefrom all offenses of a political character, in the following language:
The Court finds from the evidence that the Defendants are the persons charged in the Complaints; that they are charged with the commission of an extraditable offense i. e. murder under the provisions of a valid and subsisting treaty; and that they are subject to extradition unless the offense charged is of a political character, for under the provisions of Article VI of the treaty political offenses are exempt from extradition.
The demanding government contends that since the Defendants have been convicted and sentenced and are not merely under charges for the crime of murder, it is sufficient to obtain an order of extradition if there is produced a duly authenticated copy of the sentences of the Court and the identity of the Defendants and their status as fugitives is proven; and that, under such circumstances, the Defendants are prevented from raising the question that the crime of which they have been convicted was a political offense.
This contention is without merit. The provision of the treaty exempting therefrom political offenses is not limited in its terms, but applies to all such offenses whether or not the person sought to be extradited was convicted or is merely charged with the commission of the offense. This is the established rule in this country for the enforcement of such treaty provisions.2
The most authoritative American Court decision on the specific problem is the comparatively recent case of Karadzole v. Artukovic, decided by the Court of Appeals of the Ninth Circuit in 1954.3 The case involved the demand by the Government of Yugo-Slavia to extradite the defendant who was charged with the crime of murder in that country and who had taken refuge in the United States. The evidence showed that the alleged murders took place during the course of a struggle for power by various factions in that country and were attributed to the defendant because he as a government official had issued certain orders which had resulted in the deaths of the persons claimed to be the murder victims.
Judge Stephens speaking for the Court in holding...
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