A defense attorney has been contacted to represent a U.S. citizen who is the subject of a Peruvian inter• national request for extradition. The request isbased on the Peruvian equivalent of a first-degree murder charge for the killing of a former Peruvian political figure in the United States 20 years ago. Defense counsel learns that the client was charged and acquitted of the same con­duct in the United State 15 years ago and that there exists no forensic or eyewitness identification linking the client to the murder. Nevertheless, the client now remains in cus­tody with no bail. Does defense counsel take the case? 
Matters of extradition involve complex analyses of the applicable treaty, Executive Branch interpreta­tions of the treaty, both United States and foreign case and statutory law, and in-depth investigation into the facts underlying the crime. This article provides an overview of what extradition is, the legal require­ments for certification, and commonly used defenses to certification for extradition to a foreign country.  Continue below.