In re Danko

731 P.2d 240, 240 Kan. 431, 1987 Kan. LEXIS 261
Supreme Court of Kansas·Decided January 7, 1987·No. No. 59,234·Published·Cited by 4 cases

Opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Miller, J.:

This is an appeal by the petitioner, Michael Danko, from an order and judgment of the District Court of Riley County, denying Danko’s petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus and ordering him remanded to the custody of the appropriate authorities of the State of Arkansas for extradition. Three issues are raised: Whether the extradition documents are sufficient to satisfy petitioner’s Fourth Amendment right to a judicial determination of probable cause; whether the petitioner was illegally [432]*432detained in Kansas beyond the 30-day period allowed by K.S.A. 22-2715; and whether the Arkansas extradition warrant was defective on its face because it failed to allege that Danko was in Arkansas at the time the offenses were committed.

Michael Danko was arrested in Riley County, Kansas, on December 20, 1985, pursuant to a complaint filed by the State of Kansas requesting his detention pending extradition proceedings on a criminal warrant issued in Arkansas charging Danko with the crime of capital murder, a felony. Danko was taken before the court on December 20, 1985, hearing was set for January 21, 1986, bond was set, counsel was appointed, and the defendant was returned to the Riley County jail in default of bond. On January 21, the State applied for a continuance for the reason that the governor s warrant had not yet been received. The trial court granted the continuance until February 18, 1986. On that date, the extradition documents were presented to the trial court. These included the governor’s warrant issued by the Governor of Kansas; the extradition requisition from the Governor of Arkansas to the Governor of Kansas and the warrant issued by the Governor of Arkansas; the verified request of the Arkansas prosecuting attorney, seeking a requisition from the Governor of Arkansas; the affidavit of the prosecuting attorney, stating informations were filed in the twelfth judicial circuit of Arkansas charging Michael Edward Danko with criminal use of a prohibited weapon, failure to appear, and capital murder, that warrants were issued against Danko for each of those offenses, and that Danko was present in Sebastian County, Arkansas, at the time of the commission of the crimes; copies of the verified complaints filed in Arkansas charging Danko with criminal use of a prohibited weapon, failure to appear, and capital muder, all felonies; affidavits of identification; affidavits of the investigating officers and prosecuting attorney; and an affidavit of the circuit judge, stating that he has reviewed the file and the evidence in the case against Michael Edward Danko, and “I find there is sufficient and probable cause to support the charges of Criminal Use of Prohibited Weapon, Failure to Appear and Capital Murder filed against the said Michael Edward Danko in the Circuit Court of Sebastian County, Arkansas.”

Turning to the first issue, petitioner contends that there is no showing in the file that there was a finding of probable cause by [433]*433a neutral and detached magistrate in the State of Arkansas before a warrant for the arrest of Michael Danko was issued. The trial court agreed that the requisition and attached documents do not reflect a finding of probable cause prior to the issuance of the original warrants, nor do they supply information upon which such a finding could be made on the charges of capital murder or criminal use of a prohibited weapon, but the trial court found that there was a judicial determination of probable cause on the charge of failure to appear, based upon one of the affidavits and upon the issuance of a bench warrant at the direction of the Arkansas court.

Petitioner relies upon certain language of this court in the case of Wilbanks v. State, 224 Kan. 66, 579 P.2d 132 (1978). The first six paragraphs of the syllabus in that case deal with the initial finding of probable cause, prior to the issuance of search or arrest warrants, and those paragraphs remain the law of this state. The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States mandates that before a warrant for the arrest of the accused may be issued, there must be a finding of probable cause by a neutral and detached magistrate. That constitutional requirement is applicable to all states by virtue of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. See authorities cited in Wilbanks, 224 Kan. at 71.

Paragraphs seven and eight of the syllabus to the Wilbanks opinion read as follows:

“Under the Uniform Criminal Extradition Act, K.S.A. 22-2703, a conclusory complaint, void of supporting factual information, does not ‘substantially charge’ the person demanded with having committed an offense, and such a complaint is insufficient to support extradition.”
“In an appeal in a habeas corpus case challenging extradition proceedings, the record is examined and it is held that the complaint filed in the courts of the demanding state, and upon which the arrest warrant was issued, does not disclose probable cause, and therefore the petitioner should be discharged unless the demanding state makes a showing of probable cause within thirty days from the entry of this order.”

Those paragraphs, and corresponding parts of the opinion, deal with the matter of extradition. A few months after our opinion in Wilbanks was handed down, the Supreme Court of the United States decided the case of Michigan v. Doran, 439 U.S. 282, 58 L. Ed. 2d 521, 99 S. Ct. 530 (1978). Since the decision in Doran was announced, paragraphs seven and eight of the Wilbanks syl[434]*434labus, and corresponding portions of the opinion, are no longer controlling law and they are hereby expressly overruled.

In Doran, the United States Supreme Court said:

“A governor’s grant of extradition is prima facie evidence that the constitutional and statutory requirements have been met. Cf. Bassing v. Cady, 208 U.S. 386, 392 [, 52 L. Ed. 540, 28 S. Ct. 392] (1908). Once the governor has granted extradition, a court considering release on habeas corpus can do no more than decide (a) whether the extradition documents on their face are in order; (b) whether the petitioner has been charged with a crime in the demanding state; (c) whether the petitioner is the person named in the request for extradition; arid (d) whether the petitioner is a fugitive. . . .”
“Under Art. IV, § 2, [of the Constitution] the courts of the asylum state are bound to accept the demanding state’s judicial determination since the proceedings of the demanding state are clothed with the traditional presumption of regularity. In short, when a neutral judicial officer of the demanding state has determined that probable cause exists, the courts of the asylum state are without power to review the determination. Section 2, cl.2, of Art. IV, its companion clause in § 1, and established principles of comity merge to support this conclusion.

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In re Danko, 731 P.2d 240, 240 Kan. 431, 1987 Kan. LEXIS 261 (kan 1987).

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