CHAPTER 181
H.P. 502 - L.D. 693
An Act to Amend Procedures Relating to Extradition Proceedings
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 15 MRSA �210, as amended by PL 1983, c. 843, ��4 to 6, is further amended to read:
�210. Rights of accused person; habeas corpus
No A person arrested upon such a Governor's warrant shall may not be delivered over to the agent whom the executive authority demanding him shall have the person has appointed to receive him the person, unless he the person is first taken forthwith before a judge of a court of record in this State, who shall inform him the person of the demand made for his the person's surrender and of the crime with which he the person is charged and that he the person has the right to demand and procure legal counsel. If the prisoner or his the prisoner's counsel state states that the prisoner may or will contest extradition, the judge shall fix a reasonable time, not to exceed 7 days, to be allowed him within which allow the person to file a petition contesting extradition. The petition shall must be filed in Superior District Court and shall state the grounds upon which extradition is contested. When the petition is filed, notice of it and of the time and place of hearing shall must be given to the prosecuting attorney of the county in which the arrest is made and in which the accused is in custody, to the Attorney General and to the agent of the demanding state.
A person arrested upon the warrant of the Governor shall may not be admitted to bail, except as provided as follows: If a petition contesting extradition is granted and the order is appealed by the State to the Supreme Judicial Court sitting as the Law Court, the petitioner may be admitted to bail, in the discretion of the presiding justice judge, pending that appeal. If the appeal is sustained, the petitioner shall must be immediately placed in custody without bail to await delivery to the agent of the demanding state.
Sec. 2. 15 MRSA �210-A, as amended by PL 1981, c. 317, �3, is further amended to read:
�210-A. Procedure at hearing; review of final judgment
At the hearing on the petition contesting extradition, if the Governor's warrant and the demand comply with the provisions of this chapter, the petitioner shall have has the burden of proving by clear and convincing evidence that he the petitioner has not been charged with a crime in the demanding state and that he the petitioner is not a fugitive from justice. If the name of the petitioner is the same as that of the person named in the Governor's warrant, the petitioner shall have has the burden of proving, by clear and convincing evidence, that he the petitioner is not the person whom the demanding state is seeking to extradite. If the names are not identical, the respondent shall have has the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that the petitioner is the person sought to be extradited by the demanding state. The following shall be are conclusive on the issue of probable cause:
1. Indictment. An indictment or an information issued upon a waiver of indictment; or
2. Judicial determination of probable cause. An information or other formal charging instrument or an arrest warrant issued on a determination of probable cause by a judicial officer in the demanding state.
Affidavits, including any affidavits supplied pursuant to the provisions of section 203 or in support of an application for requisition, and any other hearsay evidence which that may be deemed reliable by the court, shall be are admissible at the hearing on the petition contesting extradition, for the purpose of showing that the petitioner is charged with a crime in the demanding state, that there is probable cause, that the petitioner is in fact the person charged with the crime and that the petitioner is a fugitive from justice.
The order or judgment making final disposition of the petition shall constitute constitutes a final judgment for the purpose of review. A final judgment entered under this section may be reviewed by the Supreme Judicial Court sitting as the law court Law Court. An appeal may be taken within 10 days after entry of the order or judgment appealed from. An appeal by the petitioner shall may not proceed unless the law court Law Court issues a certificate of probable cause. The filing of the notice of appeal shall be is deemed to constitute a request for such a certificate of probable cause. Upon the filing of a notice of appeal, the presiding justice judge shall prepare a statement of the facts of the proceedings in the Superior District Court, which shall must be forwarded to the law court Law Court. In his the presiding judge's discretion and upon a finding that special circumstances exist, the presiding justice judge, in lieu of preparing a statement of facts, may order that a transcript of all or part of the proceedings in the Superior District Court be prepared and transmitted to the law court Law Court. The statement of facts or the transcript so forwarded shall must be returned to the Superior District Court with the order of the court. Denial of the certificate constitutes finality of the proceedings. An appeal after the issuance of a certificate of probable cause to the petitioner or an appeal taken by the State, in which case no certificate of probable cause is necessary, shall may be taken in the same manner as an appeal of a criminal conviction by a defendant except that the appeal must be made directly to the Law Court. The provisions of section 2115-A shall do not apply.
Effective September 19, 1997, unless otherwise indicated.
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