Letter: To Felipe Calderon, President of the Republic of Mexico; Manlio Fabio Beltrones Rivera, Presidente de la Mesa Directiva de la Cámara de...

Letter

Letter: To Felipe Calderon, President of the Republic of Mexico; Manlio Fabio Beltrones Rivera, Presidente de la Mesa Directiva de la Cámara de Diputados; Jorge Semeño Infante, Presidente de la Mesa Directiva de la Cámara de Diputados; Guillermo I. Ortiz Mayagoitia, Presidente Consejero De la Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación; Patricia Espinosa Castellano, Secretaria de Relaciones Exteriores de México; Presidente: Rosalía Isabel Moreno Ruiz de Rivas, Lucio Lira Martínez, José Félix Davalos Davalos, Magistrados del Primer Tribunal Colegiado del Tercer Circuito en material Penal, en estado de Jalisco; Presidente: Jorge Humberto Benítez Pimienta, Silvia Irina Yayoe, Hugo Ricardo Ramos Carreon, Segundo Tribunal Colegiado en Materia Penal del Tercer Circuito en Materia Penal, en el Estado de Jalisco

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen:

We, the undersigned Members of Congress for the United States of America, respectfully call upon you to consider the following request on behalf of Unites States citizens Duane "Dog" Chapman, Leland Chapman and Tim Chapman.

WHEREAS, justice is a determinant of the sovereign political systems of all nations, and international disputes arise when two jurisdictions conflict or fail to agree upon the besot course of action; and

WHEREAS, a present legal proceeding exists between the United State and Mexico surrounding the actions of the three Chapmans, who in June of 2003, participated in the apprehension of a convicted American rapist, Andrew Luster, in Mexico (with the supervision of a person the Chapmans reasonable believed to be a Mexican police officer), and who then were detained in Mexico while proceeding to a Mexican police station to deliver Luster to the proper authorities; and

WHEREAS, Luster was a convicted felon who had fled as an escapee from the California Department of Corrections six months earlier by jumping $1 million bail on charges that he drugged and raped three women; he was also on the FBI's "Most Wanted" list, convicted and sentenced to a term of 124 years of imprisonment in absentia for 86 counts of rape, drug and weapons offenses; and

WHEREAS, Luster's disappearance commenced an international manhunt by police, FBI and bounty hunter; and

WHEREAS, Mexico has requested extradition of the three Chapmans charging them with the minor crime of "deprivation of liberty" for participating in the location and apprehension of the fugitive rapist; and

WHEREAS, the Chapmans were arrested in the Hawaii homes in September, 2006 by U.S Marshals and were freed on bail, and have been pending extradition to Mexico, where if convicted, they could be required to spend from six months to four years in a Mexican jail; and

WHEREAS, Luster is now serving a 124-year sentence in California; and

WHEREAS, the Chapmans have never been compensated for Luster's apprehension; and

WHEREAS, the Chapmans believed they could locate and participate in the apprehension of Luster base on the fact that Luster had entered Mexico under a false name, and because of the presence and assistance of a person the Chapmans reasonably believed was a Mexican Police Officer; and

WHEREAS, the Chapmans never had any intent to violate either Mexican law of challenge its sovereignty; and

WHEREAS, the Chapmans have offered to apologize to the Mexican government for any perceived breach of sovereignty; nor, therefore:

WE RESPECTFULLY REQUEST that the above-named officials of the Mexican Government and Judiciary dismiss the pending charges against the Chapmans and withdraw the request for their extradition, and allow this international dispute to be amicably resolved by virtue of the justice that has been served in the United States and in Mexico against rapist Andrew Luster by the good faith actions of United States citizens Duane "Dog" Chapman, Leland Chapman and Time Chapman.

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