On Thursday, a U.S. judge rejected a last-ditch effort by two men to avoid being extradited to Japan, facing charges they helped former Nissan Motor Co Ltd Chairman Carlos Ghosn flee the country.
Following temporarily delaying the extradition, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani ruled that the former Army Green Beret Michael Taylor and his son Peter can now be handed over to Japan, after the U.S. State Department approved their extradition.
The Taylors’ lawyers had argued they could not be prosecuted in Japan for helping someone “bail jump” noting that if they extradited, they would be tortured by the Japanese government.
However, it’s unlikely they’ll be sent to Japan anytime soon to face charges related to Ghosn’s escape in late 2019.
Within minutes of the ruling, lawyers for the Taylors filed a notice of appeal in federal court, signaling that they plan to continue to fight the extradition request in the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.
On his part, U.S. Magistrate Judge Donald Cabell in Boston approved, in September, the extradition request, ruling that it wasn’t the role of an American court to parse the nuances of a foreign penal code.
"The prevailing view is that the extradition court should defer to the foreign country’s interpretation of its own laws,” Cabell said.
In a court filing, Ghosn sought to support their claim, arguing he faced prolonged detention, mental torture and intimidation in Japan and the Taylors would face “similar or worse conditions.”
Nonetheless, Talwani said that “although the prison conditions in Japan may be deplorable,” that was not enough to bar extradition and that authorities had established their alleged actions were an “extraditable offense.”
The Taylors were arrested in May at Japan’s request.
The U.S. Judge put their extradition on hold on Oct. 29 so she could hear their challenge to the State Department’s decision.
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