CHRISTIAN LONGO NEWS ARTICLE (CONCLUSION)
by ErieGuy 3 Replies latest social current
-
-
Nathan Natas
Thank you.
-
blondie
Lawyers says Longo duped into returning to America The Associated Press
8/22/02 3:23 AMNEWPORT, Ore. (AP) -- Christian Longo should not have to face the death penalty because an FBI agent hoodwinked him into returning to the United States from Mexico, a country which does not practice capital punishment, his lawyer argued in court papers.
Ken Hadley, Longo's court-appointed attorney, argued in papers submitted Wednesday that FBI Special Agent Daniel Clegg, who accompanied Mexican police during the Jan. 13 arrest, failed to inform Longo of his right to consult an attorney and his right to speak with a representative of the U.S. Consular's Office.
Longo, 28, is accused of murdering his wife and three children in December and dumping their bodies along the central Oregon coast before fleeing to Mexico. He is being held in the Lincoln County Jail and is scheduled to enter a plea to the murder charges Oct. 1. No trial date has been set.
Hadley is asking Lincoln County Presiding Judge Robert Huckleberry to dismiss the seven aggravated murder charges against Longo or prohibit the imposition of the death penalty or a life sentence.
Hadley said Longo's consent to leave Mexico is a significant issue in the case and "one that will be pursued long and hard."
According to Hadley, Longo was given an option by Clegg following the arrest: Return to the United States to face trial or spend months in one of Mexico's notoriously squalid prisons.
Longo offered to go back.
Doug Beloof, a criminal law professor at Lewis & Clark Law School, said it doesn't matter how Longo got here.
In 1992, the U.S. Supreme Court said that it was all right to prosecute a Mexican national who had been kidnapped by U.S. government agents and brought to the United States to face charges that he murdered a Drug Enforcement Administration agent.
"In other words, the violation of the extradition treaty had no legal effect on the prosecution," Beloof said.
Lincoln County District Attorney Bernice Barnett said she had not read the motions, but she downplayed the significance of the extradition issue.
"One of our citizens elected to come home," Barnett said.
Hadley also argued that the FBI agent failed to advise Longo of his Miranda rights and did not have him sign any document agreeing to waive extradition prior to leaving Mexico.
The Longo case drew national attention last winter. The body of Zachery Longo, 4, was found floating face down in Lint Slough in Waldport on Dec. 19. On Dec. 22, divers found the body of Sadie Longo, 3, under 9 feet of water at the same slough.
On Dec. 27 the body of Longo's wife, MaryJane, and his youngest child, Madison, 2, were found in the bay behind the condominium Longo had rented.
The bodies were stuffed in large suitcases.
Copyright 2002 Oregon Live. All Rights Reserved.
-
ErieGuy
JW's Letter-To-Editor disputes author's assessment that JW teachings caused MaryJane to feel under Christian Longo's control: (Tab down)