Where Mercy Is Shown, Mercy Is Given - Duane Dog Chapman [14]
Even though we believed the news from Mexico was good, Brook Hart was quick to point out that nothing was final until he received the order and the translation to determine what the Mexican government was actually doing, whether they planned to take any further action, and what the U.S. Attorney’s office might do in response. So I was cautiously optimistic until I knew I was completely out of the woods.
As expected, Mexican prosecutors appealed the ruling. Their reasoning was that all but three cities in Mexico had no statute of limitations on the charges that we’d been facing. Lucky for me, Jalisco, the city where I was arrested, was one of the three cities that did have that law on the books. My lawyers had to go in front of the judge one last time to show that the statute of limitations had run out. The judge agreed and dismissed the case once and for all.
In my heart, I knew that Mexico was not mad at me. I applaud the Mexican justice system even if it did take years for them to come around. Now my next order of business was making sure the American courts followed suit.
When Leland, Tim, and I were arrested in September 2006 by the U.S. Marshals, I was freed after posting $300,000 bail for myself and $100,000 for each of the guys. Judge Barry Kurren agreed to release the three of us on our own recognizance on September 15, while he awaited a written statement confirming that Mexico had dropped the charges so he could make his final decision.
In the meantime, as a way of prodding the United States government, Beth and I asked our fans to write various public officials urging them to drop the pending charges against us. I had the utmost respect for our former administration.
As a citizen of the United States, I feel it is my responsibility to support our commander in chief. Even so, I had some issues with how out of touch that administration seemed to be with the criminal justice world. It shocked and appalled me that Condoleezza Rice was the person who signed my arrest warrant, actually believing that I kidnapped Andrew Luster and took him across the border. In order for her to sign the arrest warrant, she had to believe that this false story was true. I have to believe that she was never given the facts of the case. That’s the only rational explanation I can come up with for her signing such a document, because anyone who knew the facts never would have let me face being sent back there.
There had been some confusion in court when the bondsman who had written our bail bond asked the judge for a written statement saying we would not have to pay another 10 percent or $30,000 to renew the bond. He wanted to be certain we wouldn’t be on the financial hook for more money to keep the bond active. Thankfully, that issue was quickly settled—in great part due to so many caring friends and fans who bombarded Judge Kurren with e-mails and phone calls. Our fans’ actions touched my heart in a way I simply cannot put into words. To be clear, we never asked our fans to write the judge. They did so all on their own.
Judge Kurren, however, didn’t share my warmth and appreciation for all the mail and messages he received. He came down pretty hard on Brook Hart, telling him to relay his message:
“Tell your clients not to contact the court or suggest that their fans contact the court.” He was quite emphatic in his response. Of course, we had no way of controlling our fans’ decision to write in or call.
After that issue was taken care of, the only thing left to resolve was getting America to dismiss the extradition complaints and arrest warrants for me and the boys. There was no reason to pursue those charges any further when there were no longer any outstanding charges against us in Mexico. American law requires Mexico to have a valid pending charge if they want to pursue extradition. No charges, no extradition. It was as simple as that.
Even so, we had to go