Avila-Ramos v. Kammerzell
Opinion
Petitioner-Appellant Mirella Ivonne Avila-Ramos appeals from the district court's denial of habeas corpus relief from an extradition certification order. On appeal, she challenges the magistrate judge's and district court's probable cause rulings. We have jurisdiction under
Background
Ms. Avila-Ramos is wanted for aggravated homicide in Chihuahua, Mexico. Supp. R. 26. According to the warrant for her arrest, Ms. Avila-Ramos plotted with Arturo Heriberto Herrera Rey, her paramour, to murder her husband.
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After a hearing, a magistrate judge certified Ms. Avila-Ramos as extraditable.
In re
Extradition of Avila-Ramos
, No. 1:15-mj-01087-NYW (D. Colo. May 6, 2016), ECF No. 181. Among the magistrate judge's findings was that there was sufficient evidence to establish probable cause that Ms. Avila-Ramos committed aggravated homicide.
Id.
at 16. Ms. Avila-Ramos filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus challenging the extradition certification order,
On appeal, Ms. Avila-Ramos argues that (1) a finding of probable cause for conspiring to commit murder does not subject her to extradition for aggravated homicide, the offense identified in the extradition request, and (2) the magistrate judge based her probable cause determination on inadequate evidence.
Discussion
Habeas review of a probable cause determination in an extradition proceeding is limited to the narrow issue of "whether there was any evidence warranting the finding that there was reasonable ground to believe the accused guilty."
Peters v. Egnor
,
A. The Magistrate Judge Found Probable Cause for the Crime Identified in the Extradition Request
Ms. Avila-Ramos first argues that she is not extraditable because probable cause was not found for the crime identified in the extradition request. The extradition request charges her with aggravated homicide, but she contends that probable cause was found for conspiracy to commit murder, which allegedly constituted an impermissible alteration of the charges underlying the extradition request.
Ms. Avila-Ramos did not raise this argument in her habeas petition to the district court, presumably because the magistrate judge
did
find probable cause that Ms. Avila-Ramos committed aggravated homicide, the crime identified in the extradition request.
See
In re Extradition of Avila-Ramos
, slip op. at 19 ("This court CERTIFIES to the United States Secretary of State that Respondent Mirella Ivonne Avila Ramos is extraditable for the charged offense of
aggravated homicide
pursuant to
Ms. Avila-Ramos is not entitled to relief, however, simply because the district court mischaracterized the charge against her. The scope of our review is limited to the sufficiency of the
magistrate judge's
order, which we review without deference to the district court's legal determinations.
See
Santos
,
B. The Magistrate Judge's Probable Cause Determination Was Adequate
Next, Ms. Avila-Ramos contests the adequacy of the magistrate judge's probable cause determination. She argues that (1) although the government produced evidence that she conspired to kill her husband, it did not produce any evidence that she was directly responsible for her husband's death and (2) the magistrate judge relied on improper evidence, namely the criminal proceedings against Mr. Rey.
The first issue is whether, as a matter of law, the magistrate judge could have found probable cause that Ms. Avila-Ramos committed aggravated homicide from the evidence in the extradition request.
2
Ms. Avila-Ramos argues that the evidence supports, at most, a conspiracy to kill her husband, which is a distinct offense from aggravated homicide. But Ms. Avila-Ramos ignores the fact that conspiring to commit a crime is also a theory of liability for the substantive offense.
See
United States v. Bowen
,
Here, either theory supports the magistrate judge's probable cause determination. The extradition request contains sworn statements from family members, a private investigator, forensics experts, and Mexican law enforcement officers, which together allege that Ms. Avila-Ramos (1) was having an affair with Mr. Rey, who arranged the assassination; (2) paid the gunman by helping him burglarize her husband's house; and (3) reported her husband's whereabouts to Mr. Rey to facilitate the assassination.
See
The second issue is whether the magistrate judge relied on improper evidence when determining probable cause. When reviewing the sufficiency of evidence in an extradition proceeding, a magistrate judge's role is "to determine whether there is competent evidence to justify holding the accused to await trial, and not to determine whether the evidence is sufficient to justify a conviction."
Peters
,
In Mr. Rey's trial, the Mexican court found that Mr. Rey and Ms. Avila-Ramos "undoubtedly" conspired to kill her husband. Def.'s Ex. B at 22-23. According to the magistrate judge, this evidence was "the most persuasive support for the finding of probable cause," particularly because the trial was conducted in Spanish, thereby addressing Ms. Avila-Ramos's concerns about translation and reliability issues in the extradition request's documents. In re Extradition of Avila-Ramos , slip op. at 17. Ms. Avila-Ramos likens this evidence to a conviction rendered in absentia and contends that such a conviction should be treated merely as a charge, which does not establish probable cause by itself. Her argument is unavailing, though, for two reasons.
First, her analogy to an in absentia proceeding is inapt. A trial in absentia is a trial held without the accused . Trial In Absentia , Black's Law Dictionary (10th ed. 2014). Mr. Rey was present for his trial, and the Mexican court convicted him , not Ms. Avila-Ramos. Therefore, the proceedings were not in absentia, and the policy reasons for treating them as a charge (rather than as evidence) do not apply. Instead, the proceedings are more accurately categorized as hearsay: they contain out-of-court statements that are being offered for the truth therein, and Ms. Avila-Ramos did not have the opportunity to cross-examine the declarants. As the rule against hearsay does not apply in extradition proceedings, see Fed. R. Evid. 1101(d)(3), the magistrate judge could properly consider the criminal proceedings against Mr. Rey.
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Second, Ms. Avila-Ramos's appeal fails if there was
any
evidence of probable cause,
see
Peters
,
AFFIRMED.
Ms. Avila-Ramos also invokes the "rule of specialty," stating that it "does not allow for trial on" charges other than those identified in the extradition request. Aplt. Br. at 10. The rule of specialty in the extradition treaty between the United States and Mexico provides that "[a] person extradited under the present Treaty shall not be detained, tried or punished in the territory of the requesting Party for an offense other than that for which extradition has been granted." Extradition Treaty Between the United States of America and the United Mexican States art. 17, Mex.-U.S., May 4, 1978, 31 U.S.T. 5059. Ms. Avila-Ramos has misapplied the rule, "as it relates to prosecution rather than extradition."
Peters
,
The extradition treaty between the United States and Mexico provides that extradition may be granted only if, according to the laws of the requested country, there would be sufficient evidence to bring the accused to trial if he or she had committed the offense in the requested country. Extradition Treaty art. 3. Accordingly, the relevant inquiry is whether there would be sufficient evidence under U.S. law to bring Ms. Avila-Ramos to trial if she had committed the offense in the United States, the requested country.
See
Eain v. Wilkes
,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Mirella Ivonne AVILA-RAMOS, Petitioner-Appellant, v. John L. KAMMERZELL, United States Marshal for the District of Colorado; Kenneth Deal, Acting United States Marshal for the District of Colorado, Respondents-Appellees.
- Status
- Published