Reality TV > Mexican Court Halts Case Against 'Dog'
October 23, 2006
Content taken from Zap 2 It:
A Mexican federal court has temporarily halted the criminal case against Duane "Dog" Chapman.
Chapman, star of A&E's wildly popular "Dog the Bounty Hunter," held a press conference on Friday (Oct. 20) to announce that a court in Guadalajara ruled that until further evidence and testimony were gathered nothing in the case stemming from the 2003 capture of convicted rapist Andrew Luster would go forward. That includes the extradition proceedings against Duane Chapman, son Leland Chapman and unrelated fellow bounty hunter Tim Chapman.
The various Chapmans were arrested back in mid-September on kidnapping charges dating back to 2003 when the bounty hunters went down to Mexico to capture Max Factor heir Luster, who was on the run for several months evading multiple counts of rape. Mexican authorities wanted Luster handed over to them, denied Chapman and his gang permission to leave the country, declared them fugitives from justice and tried to get them extradited to Mexico for sentencing.
Chapman quickly posted the $300,000 bail and had been facing the extradition ever since.
Since that time, Chapman has been accumulating some pretty powerful allies. According to media reports, at least 29 members of Congress have sent a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice asking her to deny the extradition, which seems like a fine use of the cabinet position in a time of war.
