McCrae will fight move to California
Confessed killer would face death penalty if convicted
By ANNMARIE TIMMINS
Monitor staff
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Concord
Andrew McCrae's lawyer told a judge yesterday he will fight efforts to
return McCrae to California, where the college sophomore has admitted to
killing a police officer on Nov. 19.
Concord District Court Judge Michael Ryan gave attorney Mark Sisti until
Jan. 10 to file his arguments against extradition. Sisti declined to
discuss his legal strategy, saying it will be available in his petition
within two weeks.
Meanwhile, California authorities released investigative files this week
that more clearly explain what - aside from his confessions - led the
police to suspect McCrae, a 23-year-old college student from Washington, in
the slaying of a police officer in Red Bluff, Calif.
One newly released report said that a car and gun registered in McCrae's
name had been linked to the murder.
According to a second report, McCrae's family told an investigator that
McCrae is an idealist. He traveled to the Middle East last Christmas to act
as a human shield between the Israelis and Palestinians and may have been
arrested in the World Trade Organization protests in Seattle last spring.
McCrae was frustrated that his gripes have gone unheard, his family said.
"His older brother relates that Andy is acting as if he is in a movie and
the media attention will cause the world to change," an officer wrote after
interviewing the family.
McCrae, who legally changed his name from Andrew Mickel, was arrested on
Nov. 26 in a Concord hotel room after insisting on being allowed to tell a
reporter why he had ambushed and shot Officer David Mobilio three times. He
said he was protesting police brutality and corporate irresponsibility.
Someone identifying himself as McCrae had made a similar confession on the
Internet shortly before the arrest.
McCrae, who is being held at the Merrimack County Jail, did not speak at
his brief court hearing yesterday. He faces the death penalty in California
if convicted because he is accused of killing a police officer on duty.
Prosecutor Scott Murray said McCrae can protest the extradition on only
four points, all of them technical and limited. He could question whether
California authorities have the right person or a criminal charge pending.
He could also argue that he is not a fugitive from justice or that the
paperwork attached to the extradition paperwork is insufficient.
Murray said McCrae's extradition appears in order but that it is not
unusual for a defendant to fight return. A man arrested in New Hampshire
recently for allegedly raping a girl in Florida protested his extradition
on the grounds that the signatures on Florida's request was not valid
because they were done in calligraphy.
The judge denied the man's arguments and returned him to Florida, Murray
said. "I've been doing this for 20 years, and I have not seen one of these
(extradition requests) derailed by legal means," Murray said.
While Sisti declined to discuss his arguments against extradition, he did
say that he and Murray have different ideas about the grounds for a petition.
It is still unclear what led the police to find McCrae at the Holiday Inn
in Concord. He reportedly took a flight east after the shooting. But the
police reports released this week in California do provide new information
about the evidence the police gathered from witnesses and McCrae's family
before they arrested him.
Mobilio was shot and killed Nov. 19, around 1:30 a.m. as he refueled his
cruiser in Red Bluff. Investigators traced the bullets taken from Mobilio's
body to one of four makes of a .40 caliber handgun, according to a police
report. McCrae had registered one of those makes, a Sig Sauer, in his name
in Washington.
In addition, three witnesses said they saw a red or maroon hatchback near
the scene with a cloth covering the license plate. One of the witnesses
identified the car as a Mustang. The police ran a check of registration
records and found that McCrae has a maroon Ford Mustang registered in his
name in Washington, the police report said.
The other investigative file detailed conversations a police officer had
with McCrae's family the day McCrae was arrested. It revealed that in
addition to confessing the murder to his parents, McCrae confessed to his
two brothers and a Washington Post reporter who is friendly with McCrae's
parents.
"(McCrae) related to (the Post) reporter that he needed to be arrested so
the media will get the story out," the report said. "That he is not afraid
of going to jail for the rest of his life because he is exposing the
injustice of the world."
The report also offered some new biographical information about McCrae.
His father, Stanley Mickel of Ohio, told an officer that his son joined the
Army in 1998 after graduating from high school because he was looking for
discipline. McCrae excelled in the mental and physical challenges but was
also turned off by the service, his father told the police.
"(McCrae's) father stated that Andrew needs an opportunity to express his
platform," the police report said. "He believes that America is raping the
world. He will do what he says he will do. He is willing to sacrifice
himself to get his message out."
http://www.cmonitor.com/stories/news/local2002/extradite122702_2002.shtml
- Los Extraditables. professor rat
- Los Extraditables. professor rat
