EXTRADITION OF SHOOTING SUSPECT STILL IN WORKS.

Byline: SUSAN ABRAM Staff Writer

Extradition documents for the man accused of killing Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy David March should be sent to Mexican authorities this month, but the suspect will probably not be brought to California before the end of the year.

Jorge Arroyo Garcia, 29, is being held in Mexico City, officials with the Attorney General's Office there said. They are awaiting final word from the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

"It's getting close to the time when we have to file," said district attorney spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons. "If he doesn't appeal, we may get him within this year."

District Attorney Steve Cooley has said he will seek a sentence of life in prison without the possibility parole for Garcia, rather than the death penalty. In the past, Mexican authorities have refused to extradite fugitives facing the death penalty in the United States.

Late last year, the Mexican Supreme Court lifted a ban on extraditing suspects who might face life imprisonment here - a decision officials said could affect more than 700 suspects wanted for crimes in California.

Garcia's "situation depends on the United States presenting all the necessary requirements to solicit a formal extradition, in accordance with the bilateral treaty that exists in this case," according to a statement released by Mexican authorities this week.

Garcia was captured in February in a small town outside Guadalajara.

March, 33, of Saugus was gunned down April 29, 2002, as he approached a car on an Irwindale street. Garcia, an undocumented worker who had been deported four times and was wanted on suspicion of attempted murder, was identified as the prime suspect in the death of the seven-year law enforcement veteran.

susan.abram(at)dailynews.com

[phone]