MARCH SUSPECT PUTS UP A FIGHT GARCIA BATTLING RETURN TO THE U.S.

Byline: RUBY GONZALES Staff Writer

The man accused of gunning down a sheriff's deputy from Santa Clarita, then fleeing to Mexico -- a case that fueled a national furor over extradition policy -- is fighting U.S. attempts for his return to stand trial, officials say.

Jorge Arroyo Garcia, who used the alias Armando Garcia, filed a motion in a Mexican court to suspend the decision to extradite him, according to Ulises Gomez, chief of staff for Javier Potisek, deputy attorney general for legal and international affairs in Mexico City.

A hearing on the motion was held Sept. 25 in Mexico City. The judge has yet to issue a ruling.

``We are confident we will be successful in that case,'' Gomez said.

The legal fight is the latest hurdle in the effort by U.S. officials to locate and extradite Garcia, 29, who is charged with first-degree murder in the April 29, 2002, shooting of Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy David March.

Sheriff's detectives say Garcia fled to Mexico hours after he gunned down March during a traffic stop in Irwindale.

He eluded capture for nearly four years but was arrested Feb. 23 as he came out of an uncle's house in Tonala, Jalisco, Mexico. Garcia remains in the custody of Mexican authorities.

A Mexican court this summer approved the request by the United States to extradite Garcia, but only after District Attorney Steve Cooley agreed not to seek the death penalty if Garcia were convicted.

Garcia wants the courts to block the extradition, saying he wasn't allowed to offer evidence to show why he shouldn't be extradited.

His appeal also claimed that evidence in the criminal procedure violates Mexican law and that international law and the extradition treaty between the United States and Mexico contradicts the country's constitution.

If the judge rules against Garcia, he can appeal the decision to the Mexican Supreme Court.

But Gomez said the argument that the extradition treaty violates the Mexican Constitution already has been addressed by the Supreme Court in that country.

Mexico traditionally doesn't return suspects with ties to its country in a death-penalty case. A 2001 ruling by the Mexican Supreme Court that life in prison is cruel and unusual punishment also banned the extradition of suspects facing life in prison.

The ruling outraged prosecutors, law enforcement and victims' families in the United States because it made it impossible to extradite murder suspects who flee across the border.

March's killing became a national example of such cases.

But in November, Mexico's highest court reversed the ruling, which paved the way for Garcia and other fugitive suspects to be returned.

Already, 45 fugitives have been returned through extradition this year, surpassing the record set last year of 41, said Jaclyn Lesch, spokeswoman with the U.S. Justice Department.

Gomez said Mexico has extradited 56 people to the U.S., Spain and other European countries this year.

``That's a lot of people and a good answer to people's allegations that we are protecting criminals. We are finding them and sending them back,'' he said.

There's no way to predict how long it will take to extradite Garcia, who now faces life in prison without parole, said Janice Maurizi, a director with the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

In extraditions, she said the foreign government handles the proceedings.

``Once the decision is made, they'll notify us,'' Maurizi said.

David March's father, John March, said he's not going to waste any time worrying about Garcia.

``Who would you rather think about? Your son you're proud of or a four-time, deported drug dealer? I would rather think of my son.''

But that doesn't mean that March doesn't want Garcia brought to justice. He's hanging on to his son's handcuffs for the day Garcia returns to the United States for prosecution.

``When he gets off the plane he will be met by Cooley and (Sheriff Lee) Baca, who will handcuff him in Dave's handcuffs,'' March said.

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