United States of America v. Lopez-Turatiz, 2014 BCCA 39

• Judge: Lowry, Frankel and Tysoe, JJ.A.
• Court: Court of Appeal (British Columbia)
• Case Date: October 21, 2013
• Jurisdiction: British Columbia
• Citations: 2014 BCCA 39;(2014), 350 B.C.A.C. 125 (CA)

USA v. Lopez-Turatiz (2014), 350 B.C.A.C. 125 (CA);

    598 W.A.C. 125

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2014] B.C.A.C. TBEd. FE.011

Attorney General of Canada on behalf of the United States of America (respondent/applicant/requesting state) v. Leandro Lopez-Turatiz a.k.a. Chino (appellant/respondent/person sought)

Leandro Lopez-Turatiz a.k.a. Chino (applicant) v. Minister of Justice (respondent)

(CA039463; 2014 BCCA 39)

Indexed As: United States of America v. Lopez-Turatiz

British Columbia Court of Appeal

Lowry, Frankel and Tysoe, JJ.A.

January 31, 2014.

Summary:

The United States of America sought to extradite Leandro Lopez-Turatiz (Lopez) to stand trial in the State of Nevada on a criminal complaint charging him with premeditated first-degree murder. After Lopez was committed for extradition on the Canadian offence of "Murder", the Minister of Justice ordered his surrender on the charge set out in the complaint. Lopez appealed from the committal order under s. 49 of the Extradition Act, submitting that the extradition judge erred in dismissing his application for additional disclosure relating to forensic evidence tendered at the extradition hearing. In addition, he applied under s. 57 of the Act, for judicial review of the surrender order. His primary ground on the review was that the Minister erred by surrendering him for trial in a jurisdiction where a person could be convicted of murder under the "felony murder rule", which had been held to be unconstitutional in Canada. Lopez further claimed that the Minister erred by declining to consider the weakness of the prosecution's case.

The British Columbia Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal and the application.

Editor's Note: In a decision reported at 345 B.C.A.C. 199; 589 W.A.C. 199, Saunders, J.A., of the British Columbia Court of Appeal held that it was in the interests of justice to appoint counsel under s. 684 of the Criminal Code to assist Lopez on the present appeal.

Civil Rights - Topic 3129

Trials - Due process, fundamental justice and fair hearings - Criminal and quasi-criminal proceedings - Extradition proceedings - See paragraphs 24 to 30 and 48 to 59.

Extradition - Topic 23

General - Bars to extradition - Charter breaches - See paragraphs 24 to 30 and 48 to 59.

Extradition - Topic 2648

Evidence and procedure before examining judge - Evidence - General - Disclosure - See paragraphs 1 to 23.

Extradition - Topic 3347

Surrender to demanding country - Conditions precedent - Immunity respecting other crimes committed before surrender (rule of specialty) - See paragraphs 24 to 30 and 48 to 59.

Extradition - Topic 3360

Surrender to demanding country - Considerations - General - See paragraphs 31 to 47.

Extradition - Topic 3803

Practice - General - Disclosure - See paragraphs 1 to 23.

Extradition - Topic 3947

Practice - Judicial review - Decision to surrender (incl. standard of review) - See paragraphs 24 to 59.

Cases Noticed:

United States of America et al. v. Ferras, [2006] 2 S.C.R. 77; 351 N.R. 1; 214 O.A.C. 326; 2006 SCC 33, refd to. [para. 15].

United States of America v. Rosenau (2010), 292 B.C.A.C. 294; 493 W.A.C. 294; 2010 BCCA 461, leave to appeal denied [2011] 1 S.C.R. x;  422 N.R. 384, refd to. [para. 16].

R. v. Vaillancourt, [1987] 2 S.C.R. 636; 81 N.R. 115; 10 Q.A.C. 161; 68 Nfld. & P.E.I.R. 281; 209 A.P.R. 281, refd to. [para. 25].

R. v. Martineau, [1990] 2 S.C.R. 633; 112 N.R. 83; 109 A.R. 321, refd to. [para. 25].

United States of America v. Lucero-Echegoyen (2013), 336 B.C.A.C. 188; 574 W.A.C. 188; 2013 BCCA 149, dist. [para. 31].

Canada (Attorney General) v. Aziz (2013), 342 B.C.A.C. 305; 585 W.A.C. 305; 2013 BCCA 414, refd to. [para. 37].

Narayan v. Canada (Minister of Justice) (2008), 257 B.C.A.C. 121; 432 W.A.C. 121; 2008 BCCA 280, leave to appeal refused [2008] 3 S.C.R. viii; 392 N.R. 386, refd to. [para. 43].

Germany (Federal Republic) et al. v. Schreiber (2006), 207 O.A.C. 306; 206 C.C.C.(3d) 339 (C.A.), leave to appeal refused [2007] 1 S.C.R. xiv; 364 N.R. 396, refd to. [para. 45].

United States of America v. Burns and Rafay, [2001] 1 S.C.R. 283; 265 N.R. 212; 148 B.C.A.C. 1; 243 W.A.C. 1; 2001 SCC 7, refd to. [para. 49].

Chung v. The Queen - see Chong v. Canada (Minister of Justice).

Chong v. Canada (Minister of Justice) (1996), 91 O.A.C. 319 (C.A.), leave to appeal refused [1997] 1 S.C.R. vi; 208 N.R. 76, refd to. [para. 53].

DesFossés v. Canada (Minister of Justice) (1996), 120 F.T.R. 294 (T.D.), affd. (1997), 216 N.R. 152 (F.C.A.), leave to appeal refused [1997] 3 S.C.R. viii; 224 N.R. 157, refd to. [para. 53].

Gervasoni v. Canada (Minister of Justice) (1996), 72 B.C.A.C. 141; 119 W.A.C. 141 (C.A.), leave to appeal refused [1996] 2 S.C.R. vii; 204 N.R. 398, refd to. [para. 55].

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China v. Dia - see Dai v. Canada (Minister of Justice).

Dai v. Canada (Minister of Justice) (2006), 224 B.C.A.C. 281; 370 W.A.C. 281; 267 D.L.R.(4th) 49; 2006 BCCA 179, refd to. [para. 55].

Alford v. State (1995), 906 P.2d 714 (Nev.), refd to. [para. 57].

Jennings v. State (2000), 998 P.2d 557 (Nev.), refd to. [para. 57].

Counsel:

M.B. Rankin, for the appellant/applicant;

S.M. Repas, for the respondents.

This appeal and application were heard on October 21, 2013, at Vancouver, B.C., by Lowry, Frankel and Tysoe, JJ.A., of the British Columbia Court of Appeal. Frankel, J.A., delivered the following decision for the court on January 31, 2014.