Assistant Attorney General Jeffery L. Warfield Sr. filed an eight-page opposition to Miura’s emergency motion for a stay of extradition and removal pending appeal yesterday.
The AGO argued that Miura’s emergency motion for stay of execution pending appeal “should be summarily denied as the petitioner cannot show any probability of success on the merits.”
The AGO stated that the Supreme Court and the Superior Court have clearly followed the mandate of the United States Supreme Court to confine the judicial inquiry into extradition cases, and that the petitioner has failed to raise any serious legal issue regarding the propriety of his extradition.
“He (Miura) has unsuccessfully argued that he is not substantially charged because his lawyer in Los Angeles is arguing an affirmative defense to the underlying charges upon which his warrant is based,” the AGO said.
The AGO also stated that Miura’s extradition is for his benefit and causes no injury.
The AGO said that Miura did not offer any proof or allegation of substance that his rights would be jeopardized before the courts of the demanding state.
“The evidence of record in the case clearly demonstrates that the petitioner’s rights are being well safeguarded in the Courts of California,” the AGO said.
It stated that the commonwealth has been forced to feed, house and guard “this California prisoner.”
“By remaining here, he is being denied his full rights in the revered attorney-client relationship,” the AGO stated.
Miura did not contest the issues raised concerning identity, sufficiency of the documents, nor whether he was present in California when the crimes were committed and has left the state in his application for writ of habeas corpus, the AGO added.
The Supreme Court issued an order on Sept. 23 denying Miura’s application for a writ of habeas corpus and denying the motion to stay extradition.
Bruce Berline, one of Miura’s lawyers, filed an 11-page emergency motion asking the Supreme Court to stay Miura’s extradition or his removal from Saipan to California on Monday.
Chief Justice Miguel S. Demapan, Associate Justice Alexandro C. Castro, and Justice Pro Tem Jesus C. Borja affirmed the extradition order issued by Superior Court Judge Ramona V. Manglona.
Miura, 61, has been detained at the Department of Corrections facility since his arrest at the Saipan airport in February. He is facing charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder over the death of his wife in Los Angeles 27 years ago.
