Mad dog on the loose…

They ought to lock him up for massacring the Spanish language.

“Viva la Mexico!” was Dog the Bounty Hunter‘s response when a Mexican judge ruled Monday that the statute of limitations had expired on the kidnapping charge he was facing stemming from his 2003 capture of convicted rapist Andrew Luster.

Judge Jose Alberto Montes of the First Criminal Court in Jalisco, Mexico, then dismissed the case against Chapman. State prosecutors immediately appealed the decision, but a ruling isn’t expected for at least a few months.

(E! News)

I’ve received more comments about ex-con (and conman?) Duane Chapman than anything else I’ve ever written on. Alas, most is written by semi-literates without an inkling of what this was all about — things like international law, Civil Code, extradition, bail, etc. One person who got it all very right was bail bondsman and private eye Scott Harrell, who wrote on his website back in September 2006:

The simple answer is that [Chapman] arrested a very bad guy named Andrew Luster who was hiding out in Mexico in June of 2003. He was not terribly discreet about the apprehension having drug a film crew along with him and during the ensuing commotion (Chapman and his crew tend to create a great deal of noise, clamor and chaos wherever they tend to find a fugitive rather than being calm, well-collected and precise in their actions) and refusal to release the Max Factor heir into Mexican custody, he was arrested by Mexican law enforcement on a number of charges, chiefly illegal detention and conspiracy (their version of kidnapping charges).

The Mexican courts freed Duane Chapman and his two cohorts, Leland Chapman (son) and Timothy Chapman (not related), on bail pending his trial date which was set for July of 2003. Bail is the sum of money you pay to the courts to ensure your appearance at your trial.

Duane Chapman did not appear in Mexico for his court date and the Mexican Government has subsequently requested his arrest and extradition back to Mexico to face charges for what they consider a very serious crime; the kidnapping charge alone carries a jail term of not less than 10 years and up to 40 years in prison.

The U.S. routinely makes these same requests so there is nothing out of the ordinary here. It is not a result of some conspiracy hatched by the US or Mexican Governments. Neither government is jealous that he is making millions of dollars, or that he has put a couple dozen bail fugitives in jail. It’s not that hard to do in Hawaii… they don’t have far to run. This is simply the machinations of justice: Duane Chapman may have committed some very serious crimes in Mexico; they say he is a bail jumper and they want him back in order to stand trial.