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 Entertainment | December 2006 
TV Bounty Hunter Waits for Court Action
 Jaymes Song - Associated Press
| | "Inside, I'm dying," Chapman said in an interview with The Associated Press at his spacious ocean-view home. "On the outside, I'm a Hawaiian citizen." |
Duane "Dog" Chapman is waiting to hear whether a Mexican federal court will set him free or order his pending extradition and criminal case to proceed.
The 53-year-old TV bounty hunter is charged under Mexican law with "deprivation of liberty" for his June 2003 capture of fugitive convicted rapist Andrew Luster, the Max Factor heir, in Puerto Vallarta.
"Inside, I'm dying," Chapman said in an interview with The Associated Press at his spacious ocean-view home. "On the outside, I'm a Hawaiian citizen."
His attorney, William Boller, will present arguments starting Monday. Chapman will not attend the closed hearing in Guadalajara.
"We consider this a critical hearing because it could resolve the matter," Boller said. "We're putting a lot of eggs in this basket because if we can cut it off at the path, the (criminal) trial never takes place."
Chapman was arrested Sept. 14 along with his son and another associate and is free on $300,000 bail. He has been aggressively fighting extradition.
"It's been the most nervous week by far in many years," he told the AP. "In Mexico, you're guilty until proven innocent. It's not like America. You must prove your innocence. That's their law. It's nothing bad or good. That's just their law."
Chapman faces up to four years in a Mexican jail if convicted.
"It's very ironic isn't it?" said his wife, Beth Chapman. "He may go to jail for catching a rapist. We're in trouble because we caught America's escaped prisoner."
Chapman's capture of Luster catapulted the Honolulu-based bounty hunter to fame and led to the A&E reality series "Dog the Bounty Hunter."
Luster jumped a $1 million bond and disappeared during his trial in California's Ventura County on charges that he drugged and raped three women. The disappearance set off a national and international manhunt by police, FBI and bounty hunters trying to recoup some of the bond money. Luster is now serving a 124-year prison term.
Chapman said he was never paid for Luster's capture.
Dog Chapman Defends His Capture of Rapist in Mexico
Newswire
Hawaii's reality TV star, Duane Dog Chapman, is about to face a federal court in Mexico. Authorities arrested the bounty hunter last September here on Oahu in connection with his 2003 arrest of convicted rapist and fugitive Andrew Luster.
Luster had been hiding out in Mexico at the time, but bounty hunting is illegal in that country. Thursday, the Dog, along with his wife Beth Chapman and the couple's attorney, defended themselves on CNN's "Larry King Live."
The Dog said Luster is a criminal, who tried to lie about his true identity. "He said his name was David Correra. And of course I said wait a minute. This is Andrew Stuart Luster, wanted on 86 counts of rape, got 124 hundred years in prison... of course luster spoke fluent Spanish and was telling the police officers I m not that guy, blah blah blah."
The Dog's attorney William Bollard told Larry King "best case they dismiss, the case goes away. Worst case they have to stay on trial in Puerto Vallarta on a single charge of deprivation of liberty, it carries with it a sentence range from six months to four years."
Bollard admits they have a tough fight on their hands. Their hearing starts Monday in Mexico. |
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