But the prosecution said the defense team shouldn’t be too sure and should focus on how to spare the Japanese businessman from the possibility of execution by lethal injection if convicted of his murder and related charges in California.
Four LAPD agents led by Detective Rick Jackson, the famed investigator involved in the O.J. Simpson case who also originally investigated Miura’s alleged involvement in the mysterious 1981 attack in LA against his wife who later died, arrived on Sept. 15 on Saipan to pick-up Miura but went home later without him due to the high court’s stay order.
Attorney Bruce Berline said the LAPD can try coming to Saipan again and they would like to see it happen when the appropriate court ordered another stay on Miura’s extradition.
“We hope that we can again meet their [LAPD detectives] arrival here on Saipan with the stay from either the CNMI Supreme Court or the U.S. District Court for the Northern Marianas or the U.S. Supreme Court,” he told the media Tuesday afternoon after the CNMI Supreme Court affirmed the lower court’s order to extradite Miura and lifted the stay order on his extradition.
The CNMI prosecution team notified again relevant LA-based authorities about the high court’s decision but there is no word yet if LAPD would send a team pending the defense’s plan to make another appeal and emergency request for a stay of the extradition order.
“It seems rather foolish for them to come here again after extreme waste of taxpayers’ money…. I’m sure it was an excess of $20,000 down the toilet although they got two wonderful days in Saipan and we appreciate their visit and I’m sure MVA appreciates their visit. But I doubt that taxpayers of California would look happily upon this,” said Berline.
Assistant Attorney General Jeffery Warfield Sr., the lead NMI prosecutor in Miura’s case, said he would let LAPD decide on whether or not it should immediately send a team for the extradition mission.
“Given what happened last week, I wouldn’t be surprised if they said ‘Let’s wait and see if anything is filed in the federal court and whether or not the judge wants to entertain the habeas corpus or not in the district court,’” he said.
“That would be a practical thing to do. But again, they may just decide to come since they know, as we stand here now, he’s free to be taken back to California,” he added.
The defense intends to file a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands.
No brief has been filed as of yesterday afternoon.
If the federal court’s ruling is adverse, it plans to elevate the case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and may even file for a writ of certiorari at the U.S. Supreme Court if the appellate court’s ruling is adverse to Miura.
The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is described as “liberal” and may grant the defense’ request for a stay order.
Three justices must concur to a decision.
Legal experts, however, said the U.S. Supreme Court is stricter.
If the case involves murder, rarely does it entertain a petition for a writ of certiorari — Latin for “to search” which literally means bring me the file—unless there has been a conviction.
Miura has yet to stand trial for his alleged crimes in California.
His defense is even challenging the prosecution’s assertion that he’s been substantially charged.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Steven Van Sicklen is expected to rule on Miura’s motion to invalidate his warrant of arrest this Friday.
Japan acquitted Miura of murder in 1998 and was subsequently freed.
He has been detained here for seven months now.
