Texas judge declines to order ICE agent’s extradition to Minnesota

Minnesota claims Texas Governor Greg Abbott is unlawfully withholding the extradition of an ICE agent accused of an illegal shooting in Minneapolis.(CN) — A Texas federal judge denied a request by the state of Minnesota Wednesday to order Texas Governor Greg Abbott to authorize the extradition of an ICE agent to face criminal charges over the shooting of a Venezuelan man in Minneapolis.Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison have accused Abbott of violating the U.S. Constitution’s extradition clause, as well as the federal Extradition Act and Texas’ Uniform Criminal Extradition Act, by failing to sign off on Minnesota’s extradition request for the immigration officer, Christian Castro, for almost three months. But U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. ruled he lacks jurisdiction to enter the order Minnesota is seeking, as Abbott hasn’t officially denied the extradition request.“The Court accepts that Governor Abbott has considered this particular extradition request for an atypically long duration,” the Donald Trump appointee wrote. “Nevertheless, Minnesota identifies no statutory or constitutional provision requiring Governor Abbott to complete his investigation and decide whether to sign the rendition warrant within a particular time period.”Rodriguez found there is no direct evidence showing Abbott has intentionally sought to delay the process.“The threat of an indefinite consideration of Minnesota’s extradition request does not currently exist,” he ruled.Rodriguez also declined to order Sheriff Manuel Trevino of Cameron County, Texas, where Castro is currently being held in jail, to keep the ICE agent detained until Abbott has approved his extradition. Castro is set to be released Thursday due to provisions of Texas law limiting pre-extradition detention to 90 days, and Minnesota argues he could flee to Mexico once released.However, Rodriguez ruled that “no grounds support a temporary restraining order requiring Sheriff Trevino to ignore” the 90-day time limit.“No party challenges the validity of those statutory provisions, and Minnesota does not allege that Sheriff Trevino has acted wrongfully to date in connection with Castro’s detention or would act wrongfully by releasing Castro based on those statutes,” he wrote.The case centers around an incident in January where prosecutors say Castro fired his service weapon through the front door of an occupied home during an immigration operation in north Minneapolis, striking Venezuelan immigrant Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in the leg. Authorities further claim Castro falsely reported that Sosa-Celis and another man had attacked an ICE officer with a broom handle and snow shovel before the shooting. Surveillance video later contradicted those accounts, leading federal prosecutors to drop charges that had been filed against the two men.In May, Minnesota prosecutors charged Castro with four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime, and he was arrested in Harlingen, Texas. Days later, Walz sent Abbott a formal extradition request.On July 31, more than two months after Castro’s arrest, Governor Abbott sent a letter requesting the Texas secretary of state “investigate the demand and report to me concerning Mr. Castro’s situation and circumstances and whether he ought to be surrendered.”In the letter, Abbott said he had “serious doubts that the prerequisites for extradition have been met” due to “information indicating that Mr. Castro was compelled to return to Texas on orders of the federal government.” Abbott has argued this could mean Castro does not qualify as a fugitive from justice, as he did not intentionally flee from Minnesota, and therefore he is not subject to mandatory extradition.But in his order, Rodriguez said he “has doubts that caselaw supports the construction of ‘fugitive’ that Texas is considering,” saying under U.S. Supreme Court precedent, “the focus rests not on the accused’s reason for leaving the state, but simply on whether he in fact left.”In a statement to Courthouse News Service, Abbott’s press secretary Andrew Mahaleris praised Rodriguez’s decision to deny Minnesota’s request a temporary restraining order compelling extradition.“The court was right to reject Governor Walz’s absurd claim,” Mahaleris said. “The Constitution requires deliberate consideration of extradition requests and tasks Governor Abbott to ‘decide, upon such evidence as he may deem satisfactory’ whether ’the person demanded is a fugitive.’ Today’s order rebuffs Minnesota’s efforts to conscript federal courts into commandeering the authority of Governor Abbott’s office.”Meanwhile, Ellison issued a statement accusing Abbott of “turning Texas into a sanctuary state for violent criminals.”“This case should concern officials and citizens of every state,” the Minnesota attorney general said. “If a governor can delay extraditions and cherry-pick cases according to their political tastes, then no state will be able to hold fugitive criminals accountable.”“Regardless of today’s ruling,” Ellison added, “Christian Castro will not escape justice in Minnesota.”Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads