Graham v. Young, No. 16-4260 (8th Cir. 2018)
Annotate this CasePetitioner, extradited from Canada and then convicted of felony murder in violation of South Dakota law, appealed the district court's denial of his petition for habeas relief. Petitioner argued that this appeal concerned the doctrine of dual criminality of Article 2 of the Treaty on Extradition with Canada. Petitioner argued that felony murder was not a crime in Canada and, therefore, was not an extraditable offense under the Treaty. Determining that petitioner had Article III standing, the Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment, holding that the Consent to Waiver of Specialty conclusively established that petitioner's prosecution and conviction for felony murder in South Dakota did not violate Article 2. In granting the Consent to Waiver of Specialty, the Minister of Justice necessarily determined that, in light of the evidence presented, the conduct charged would have violated Canadian law.
Court Description: Loken, Author, with Beam and Colloton, Circuit Judges] Prisoner case - habeas. Graham, who was extradited from Canada and convicted of felony murder in South Dakota state court, argues that his conviction violated the "dual criminality" provision of Article 2 of the Treaty on Extradition between Canada and the United States of America because the South Dakota trial court lacked jurisdiction to try him, in that felony murder is not a crime in Canada and, therefore, is not an extraditable offense under the Treaty. Graham has statutory standing to raise the dual criminality limitation as his claim falls within the zone of interests protected by the Treaty; the court will not sit in judgment of Canada's interpretation of Canadian criminal law as authorizing Canada to extradite Graham under Article 2 of the Treaty for a felony murder prosecution in the U.S.; in granting the Consent to Waiver of Speciality, Canada's Minister of Justice necessarily determined that the conduct alleged would have violated Canadian law and was an extraditable offense; Minister of Justice's authority to issue a Consent to Waiver is a matter of Canadian law which cannot be collaterally attacked in U.S. courts.
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