Inmate denied stay of warrant in Texas extradition case

Judge, DA, say there's no choice

Supporters of Christopher Diaz, a 22-year-old Mendocino man charged in Browns County, Texas with possessing a small amount of hash and marijuana, will likely be extradited to the Lone Star State in about 10 days, according to his attorney.

Diaz's case has drawn the attention of local marijuana advocates who argue Diaz shouldn't have to face five to 99 years in jail in Texas, which doesn't recognize marijuana as a medicine. Mendocino County Superior Court Judge Ann Moorman will bring Diaz back to her courtroom at 1:30 p.m. Jan. 10 to ensure he is extradited.

"I can't stay the governor's warrant," Moorman said during a Tuesday hearing, responding to Sebastopol defense attorney Don Lipmanson's statement that he intended to move that the court stay the extradition to give him time to file a writ of habeas corpus. "I have no authority to release (him) or to stay."

Amid about a dozen marijuana advocates, friends, family and supporters pushing for Diaz's release, Lipmanson explained outside the courtroom that had he filed the writ, it could potentially have led to the young man's temporary release while he waited to be extradited.

"Some of this waiting could have been done out of custody," he said.

Diaz was stopped and arrested at around 2 a.m. Oct. 30 as he drove through Browns County on his way to Austin, Texas, to visit his great grandmother, who was very ill, according to Diaz's mother, Rhonda Martin of Mendocino.

The

stop was allegedly for having expired registration tags, but Martin contends the tags were current and that the officer stopped him because of the time of day and the out-of-state license plates.

Whatever the reason he was stopped, Diaz allegedly had a little less than half an ounce of marijuana hashish and a little less than a quarter-ounce of marijuana with him in the car. Texas authorities arrested him on suspicion of possessing marijuana with the intent to distribute it.

Diaz then allegedly fled the Lone Star State for his Mendocino home while he was out on bail, and was additionally charged with what the Texas indictment calls "bail-jumping."

The Tuesday hearing was an attempt to lower Diaz's bail, which had mounted from $3,000 for the underlying marijuana charge to over $100,000. Of that, $25,000 was added for failing to appear in a Texas court, and another $100,000 for the bail-jumping charge.

Moorman noted in court that the bail amount was now up to about $160,000, but said the those bail amounts were set in Texas.

She ruled that Lipmanson's motion to stay the extradition was moot "because the warrant has been issued and signed."

Mendocino County Assistant District Attorney Paul Sequeira explained outside the courtroom that the extradition process involves Texas authorities sending Diaz's indictments to the California Governor's Office, that office signing off on the warrant, then the Mendocino County District Attorney's Office filing a fugitive complaint and overseeing Diaz's extradition to Texas.

"A lot of this is really a formality; we have literally no discretion," Sequeira said, echoing Moorman's comments inside the courtroom.

Martin said Diaz uses marijuana to treat his severe asthma, and that the amount he had with him would be the equivalent of an asthma patient's emergency inhaler.

"A few pops off of that would be enough to open up his airways if he was having a hard time breathing," she said.

There was disagreement in court between Lipmanson and Sequeira as to whether the Browns County District Attorney's Office is willing to reach resolution on Diaz's case.

"I spoke with the district attorney, and there is no interest in resolving this," Lipmanson told Moorman.

"That's not true," Sequeira responded. "They are interested in resolution, they just want (Diaz) in Texas. They don't want him to do this by correspondence. He has to be there and show some good faith."

Outside the courtroom, Lipmanson said Diaz's supporters have a good Texas lawyer lined up for Diaz.

Speaking to Diaz's supporters who were contemplating appealing to Mendocino County District Attorney David Eyster for help in the matter, Lipmanson suggested that Eyster could help by explaining that Diaz didn't intend to sell or distribute the marijuana, and by clarifying "why someone would be traveling around with a small amount of marijuana."

Compiling the documentation to mount a defense based on Diaz's medical condition wasn't possible within the time constraints of the extradition process, Lipmanson said.

Tiffany Revelle can be reached at udjtr@pacific.net, or at 468-3523.

Source: http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/ci_19670921?source=rss_viewed

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