Duane "Dog" Chapman not to be extradited to Mexico

[XanaDUer]

http://www3.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/01/30/dog.extradition.ap/index.html

Bounty hunter won't face charges in Mexico
Story Highlights
Duane 'Dog' Chapman can't be extradited, Mexican judges rule

He captured fugitive serial rapist Andrew Luster there in 2003

Bounty hunting is illegal in Mexico

The bounty hunter is a popular television figure

HONOLULU, Hawaii (AP) -- Duane "Dog" Chapman cannot be extradited to Mexico to face criminal charges in his capture of serial rapist and fugitive Andrew Luster in 2003, a three-judge panel in Mexico has ruled.

The TV bounty hunter, his son Leland Chapman and associate Tim Chapman faced being sent to the resort town of Puerto Vallarta, where they captured Luster, who had jumped a $1 million bond on charges that he drugged and raped three women.

"He's a free man," Chapman's San Francisco-based attorney, James A. Quadra, said in a telephone interview late Tuesday. "They can't reinstate any criminal charges and as a result of that, there's no basis for them to then seek extradition."

Luster's disappearance during his trial in California set off an international manhunt by police, FBI and bounty hunters trying to recoup some of the bond money. After his capture, he was taken back to the U.S. to serve a 124-year prison sentence.