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25 Cal. W. Int'l L.J. 189 (1994-1995)
Extradition, Human Rights, and the Death Penalty: When Nations Must Refuse to Extradite a Person Charge with a Capital Crime

handle is hein.journals/calwi25 and id is 195 raw text is: EXTRADITION, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND THE DEATH PENALTY: WHEN NATIONS MUST REFUSE TO EXTRADITE A PERSON CHARGED WITH A CAPITAL CRIME I. INTRODUCTION On June 17, 1994, O.J. Simpson disappeared for several hours with his passport and with several thousand dollars.' He had been charged with double murder by the State of California, offenses that made him eligible for the death penalty.2 Although there are disputes about the motivations behind his disappearance which will likely be explored at his criminal trial, his brief disappearance raised some interesting questions: If he had fled to a State that had abolished capital punishment, say the Netherlands, would the Nether- lands honor a United States extradition request and return him to face the death penalty? What if he fled to other States, like the United Kingdom, or Canada, that had abolished capital punishment for all non-military related offenses? Would he receive protection from the death penalty in one State but not in another? Does it matter that he is black and was charged with cross-racial killings? What, if any, treaties or international agreements limit the States' discretion to extradite, and what are the limits of the discretion when the death penalty is involved? This comment attempts to answer those questions. Some human rights treaties prohibit extradition when it is foreseeable that the death penalty will be imposed in the State that is requesting extradition.3 Some prohibit States from extraditing persons when it is foreseeable that those persons will face the death penalty in the State requesting extradition, such that the imposition of the sentence amounts to torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,4 although there is a lack of uniformity over what treatment meets this definition.5 This comment discusses the substantive and procedural rights that emanate from these human rights treaties afforded to persons in extradition proceedings. This comment also discusses new substantive and procedural rights that have arisen by implication to all persons in deportation or expulsion proceedings 1. Henry Weinstein and Andrea Ford, Delay of Trial and Bail Denied for Simpson, L.A. TIMES, Oct. 20, 1994, at Al (quoting Marcia Clark, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney, in her oral argument to the court opposing Mr. Simpson's motion to be released on bail). 2. Simpson was charged with murdering Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Lyle Goldman in violation of Cal. Penal Code § 187(a). State of California v. O.J. Simpson, Case No. BA097211, Felony Complaint for Arrest Warrant, Counts One and Two, June 17, 1994, available in LEXIS, News library, Hottop file. These criminal offenses made him eligible for the death penalty under Cal. Penal Code § 190.2(a)(3). Id. 3. See infra notes 42, 102-08, 160-62 and accompanying text. 4. See infra notes 42-45, 50-52, 175-84 and accompanying text. 5. See infra part IV. B.

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