United States v. Liuksila

CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedJanuary 6, 2016
DocketCriminal No. 2013-0970
StatusPublished

This text of United States v. Liuksila (United States v. Liuksila) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Liuksila, (D.D.C. 2016).

Opinion

THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

IN THE MATTER OF THE EXTRADITION Magistrate No. 13-970 (DAR) OF AARNO OLAVI LIUKSILA

MEMORANDUM OPINION

This matter is before the court on the United States’ request on behalf of the government

of Finland, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3184, to certify the extraditability of Defendant Aarno

Liuksila. Criminal Complaint (Document No. 1). The court filed a Memorandum Opinion on

November 7, 2014 denying Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss the Criminal Complaint and Deny

Finland’s Extradition Request (Document No. 15). See In re Liuksila, Magistrate No. 13-970,

2014 WL 5795244 (D.D.C. Nov. 7, 2014). Defendant subsequently filed a Motion to Stay

Enforcement of Any Extradition Order Pending Petition for Habeas Relief (Document No. 29)

and a Motion for Reconsideration (Document No. 35), both of which are pending for the court’s

consideration. The court conducted a hearing on February 4, 2015 and heard argument with

regard to Defendant’s Motion for Reconsideration. Upon consideration of the parties’ written

memoranda, the evidence admitted, the arguments made by counsel on the record at the hearings,

and the entire record herein, the court will deny Defendant’s motions and will certify

Defendant’s extraditability.

BACKGROUND

Defendant is sought by the Finnish government to answer charges pending in Finland

that arise out of certain housing shares that he owned, which the government alleges were

“distrained” in 2001 to cover Defendant’s debts. See Document No. 1-2. After a hearing on In re Liuksila 2

Defendant’s extradition to Finland, which concluded on April 28, 2014, 1 and upon consideration

of the written submissions, the court denied Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss the Criminal

Complaint and Deny Finland’s Extradition Request (Document No. 15) by a Memorandum

Opinion (Document No. 27) filed on November 2, 2014. See In re Liuksila, 2014 WL 5795244.

After filing the November 7, 2014 Memorandum Opinion, the court had not yet certified

Defendant’s extradition to Finland when he filed both a Motion to Stay Enforcement of Any

Extradition Order Pending Petition for Habeas Relief (“Defendant’s Motion to Stay”)

(Document No. 29) and a Motion for Reconsideration (Document No. 35). Subsequently, the

court scheduled oral argument with regard to Defendant’s Motion for Reconsideration

(Document No. 35), which was conducted on February 4, 2015. 2 See 12/22/2014 Minute Entry;

02/04/2015 Minute Entry.

Defendant argues, through written submissions (Document Nos. 35, 40) and oral proffer

at the February 4, 2015 hearing, that the court erred in its decision to extradite Defendant to

Finland for the reasons set forth in the November 7, 2014 Memorandum Opinion. Defendant

argues that the applicable statute of limitations has run with regard to the charges with which he

1 The court conducted four previous hearings with regard to Defendant’s extradition. See 01/13/2014 Minute Entry; 01/16/2014 Minute Entry; 01/22/2014 Minute Entry; and 01/23/2014 Minute Entry; see also In Re Liuksila, 2014 WL 5795244, at *1. 2 At a status hearing conducted on December 22, 2014, the court granted in part Defendant’s Motion to Stay (Document No. 29), based on the agreement of the parties that Defendant’s bail status on personal recognizance should be continued. See 12/22/2014 Minute Order. With regard to the remainder of Defendant’s Motion to Stay, Defendant initially contended that a stay of enforcement of any extradition order from this court was warranted pending his petition for habeas relief, given that “[Defendant’s] case presents close questions of law on which he is likely to prevail.” See Defendant’s Motion to Stay at 1. However, the Government, in its response to Defendant’s Motion to Stay, contended that staying the current proceedings pending habeas review is superfluous, given the statutory safeguards and procedures as contemplated by Congress with regard to extradition matters, essentially providing the stay that Defendant sought. See Government’s Memorandum Opposing Fugitive’s Motion to Stay Certification Order (“Government’s Opposition to Stay”) (Document No. 32) at 2-4. In light of the Government’s assurances, Defendant voluntarily withdrew his argument in favor of a stay of the proceedings before the court pending the outcome of his habeas petition. See Defendant’s Reply in Support of His Motion for Stay and Continuation of His Bail Status (Document No. 34) at 2. Therefore, Defendant’s Motion for Stay (Document No. 29) is hereby denied as moot. In re Liuksila 3

has been charged in Finland. See Defendant’s Memorandum in Support of His Motion for

Reconsideration (“Defendant’s Memorandum”) (Document No. 35-1) at 6-7. Therefore, the

court should have denied Finland’s extradition request. Id. At the core of his contention,

Defendant takes issue with the court’s reliance on the “mere absence” standard as articulated in

McGowen v. United States, 105 F.2d 791 (D.C. Cir. 1939). Id. at 2; see also In re Liuksila, 2014

WL 5795244, at *8. In McGowen, the Circuit held that a criminal defendant’s “mere absence”

from a jurisdiction is sufficient enough to toll the applicable statute of limitations with regard to

the crime(s) with which he or she has been charged. 105 F.2d 791. Defendant contends that the

facts of the present case are sufficiently distinguishable from McGowen to justify a departure

from the law established therein. In support of this contention, Defendant states:

This Circuit has never previously applied a mere absence tolling standard where, as here, (1) an individual affirmatively notified the relevant authorities of his intention to leave the jurisdiction prior to his travel and the authorities facilitated his departure, (2) the relevant authorities were at all times aware of the individual’s whereabouts and had the ability to immediately commence criminal proceedings, and (3) the individual maintained regular contact with the relevant authorities following his departure and voluntarily cooperated with their requests. These facts should be deemed to preclude tolling under 18 U.S.C. § 3290, even assuming that McGowen is good law in this Circuit.

Defendant’s Memorandum (Document No. 35-1) at 3. Moreover, Defendant avers that his

contention is supported by new evidence in the form of a sworn affidavit from Finnish Detective

Inspector Kirsi Alaspää. See Defendant’s Liuksila’s Reply in Support of His Motion for

Reconsideration (“Defendant’s Reply”) (Document No. 40) at 7-9. 3 With regard to the affidavit,

Defendant represents:

3 The court notes, that at the February 4, 2015 hearing, Defendant offered the affidavit of Detective Inspector Alspää into evidence as Defense Exhibit 1, without objection from the Government. Additionally, the Government entered into evidence what has been labeled as Government’s Exhibit 1, which consists of a photocopy of two sides of a United States Postal Service confirmation of service card. The Government represented that Government’s Exhibit In re Liuksila 4

The affidavit, filed for the first time on December 23, 2014, eviscerates any suggestion that [Defendant] bears the fault for the Finnish authorities’ delay in prosecution.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

United States v. MacIo Singleton
702 F.2d 1159 (D.C. Circuit, 1983)
McGowen v. United States
105 F.2d 791 (D.C. Circuit, 1939)
United States v. Ferguson
574 F. Supp. 2d 111 (District of Columbia, 2008)
United States v. Booker
613 F. Supp. 2d 32 (District of Columbia, 2009)
Judicial Watch v. Department of Army
466 F. Supp. 2d 112 (District of Columbia, 2006)
Cobell v. Norton
355 F. Supp. 2d 531 (District of Columbia, 2005)
Williams v. Savage
569 F. Supp. 2d 99 (District of Columbia, 2008)
Loumiet v. United States of America
65 F. Supp. 3d 19 (District of Columbia, 2014)
In re the Extradition of Liuksila
74 F. Supp. 3d 4 (District of Columbia, 2014)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
United States v. Liuksila, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-liuksila-dcd-2016.