Legal Question in Constitutional Law in North Carolina
Equal Protection Law as circumscribed by District Attorneys
Under what authority can the District Attorney of Onslow county, North Carolina throw out the Death Penalty -- prior to the arrest or even any plea bargain involving the defendant -- at the time of an indictment, to facilitate the arrest of Cpl. Laurean who was seemingly allowed to flee to Mexico.
The question I'm asking isn't why or why not, but one of at least constitutional ''equal'' protection under the law and due process; that is what authority (eg. U.S. Constitution, North Carolina State Law etc.) is the District Attorney operating under, and are rules for extraditing from Mexico a legal clause under that authority. Furthermore, does this by virtue of the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution grant everyone at least in North Carolina the offer of impunity for a capital offense or one of at least a similar nature as this, prior to an arrest and arraignment in a court of law. Does this also guarantee to any U.S. citizen facing charges for a death penalty crime, impunity from the death penalty if that person can escape to Mexico and be taken into custody there? These are not meant to be rehtorical or facetious questions, I really am trying to make a determination as to the scope of at least Equal Protection.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Equal Protection Law as circumscribed by District Attorneys
The District Attorney for Onslow County, North Carolina, derives his authority from the executive branch of North Carolina state government, subject to all of the laws of that state as well as federal laws which may apply to the prosecutor's conduct or decisions in any particular matter which is within his jurisdictional authority.
With respect to the situation which you've referenced, such a decision taken by the local prosecutor is well within his discretionary authority as exercised and in this instant case in no way seriously implicates either the Equal Protection or Due Process Clauses of the U.S. Constitution nor other Constitutional concerns or considerations. In fact this type of decision to take the death penalty "off the table", so to speak,
happens fairly often in order for a U.S. jurisdiction to have a fugitive who's absconded to a foreign country or territory returned to the United States. Just a few years ago, the local prosecutor in Philadelphia acceded to the demands of French authorities to remove the death penalty as a possible sentence for the notorious Ira Einhorn, the killer of his girlfriend, Holly Maddox, in that city in the late 1970's, in return for his extradition to the united States.
The French then extradited this scumbag to "Philly" where he was tried, convicted, and given a sentence of life without the possibilty of parole. (Senator Arlen Spector, who had arranged Einhorn's low bond some 25 years earlier as his defense counsel, was nowhere to be seen at these proceedings.)
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