The Extradition of Jayant M. Patel

For about a week there has been a dramatic increase in reporting what is going on with the Jayant M. Patel investigation, extradition, and various projected statements about where the man is, and what he intends to do.

So I thought that it was prudent to write something because some of the printed information is incorrect.

You can also rest assured that Dr. Patel and his attorneys keep up with the news. When the news is inaccurate it sometimes makes matters worse. Inaccuracies can be used by slick attorneys to distort truth once an action does get to a court of law.

What caught my eye and inspired this writing was an article from November 2, 2007 found at:
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22687995-662,00.html

In particular the following statement:

"He will face his local court in Portland, Oregon, and if the court grants an extradition warrant,....."

That didn't sound correct and I started checking a few other stories recently published that had a similar statement in them. So I started asking some questions, mostly to verify for myself that the country to country extradition process had not changed since I had studied it in school decades ago.

Here is what I found:

It is unlikely that anything will take place in Portland, Oregon with the Multnomah County D.A.

First because Patel is from Washington County. This information is per both the Multnomah County and Washington County, Oregon D.A.'s offices.

Secondly, because the Multnomah County and Washington County D.A. offices Division of Extradition generally only handle state to state extraditions.

That means that if anything is going on it is taking place at the Federal level and hopefully they would not be telling the world about it until after the fact.

So in the interests of accuracy here are the links to both countries extradition processes:

Note the immediate following is only about the U.S. requesting extradition: INTERNATIONAL EXTRADITION AND RELATED MATTERS from the U.S. Attorneys Office.
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/eousa/foia_reading_room/usam/title9/15mcrm.htm

Then there is the Extradition Treaty between the U.S. and Australia -
Australian bilateral extradition agreements

Then there is the information on the process of a request for Extradition by Australia found at:
Extradition and mutual assistance
http://www.ag.gov.au/extraditionandma

I would think that media commentary on what the factual process is would be more newsworthy than misinformation.

Dr. Vijay Mehta, the Texas physician who the media quotes as making statements about the unfairness of Patel's possible extradition, lives at least 2,000 miles away from Dr. Patel and at least 12,000 miles from Queensland. He purports to be Dr. Patel's friend and a self reported authority on the Australian legal system or else he wouldn't state that Patel could not get a fair trial in a country that he fled from before the authorities could clap him in irons. I have to wonder what his experience is with the Australian legal system that makes him such an expert?

The Age reported that Australian Council for Civil Liberties president Terry O'Gorman believes a US-style cross-examination of jurors is the only way to ensure disgraced former surgeon Dr Jayant Patel gets a fair trial.

So maybe an opinion from someone in the U.S. that has watched physicians like Patel repeatedly get away with their actions would be appropriate right now.

My opinion is that Patel will get a very fair trial in Australia. Fair to him and fair to the victims. In the U.S. Patel would get a fair trial - fair to him and a kick in the teeth to the victims.

Let's hope that reporters start verifying their information and that Australia prevails.