Noriega Extradition: Habeas Petition Dismissed

For the third time in the past four and a half months, a district court judge has dismissed a habeas petition filed by former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega in an attempt to block his extradition to France. Noriega's first two petitions, which were unorthodoxly filed as part of his prior criminal case, invoked the Third Geneva Convention. Judge William Hoeveler of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida dismissed those petitions for lack of jurisdiction, ruling in the alternative that the Convention's obligations were fulfilled by the United States. (Judge Hoeveler's orders dismissing the petitions are here and here.) Yesterday's action by Judge Paul C. Huck of the Southern District of Florida is the most important from a procedural standpoint, as the judge refused, on the merits, to disturb the certification of extraditability issued by Magistrate Judge William C. Turnoff on August 28, 2007. Ruling from the bench following oral argument, Judge Huck agreed with Judge Hoeveler's conclusions, including that the United States's obligations under the Third Geneva Convention have been satisfied through assurances by France that it would treat Noriega in accordance with the Convention's rules. (A written opinion has yet to be issued.) Noriega will, no doubt, appeal Judge Huck's decision to the Eleventh Circuit, which already has on its docket Noriega's appeal of one of Judge Hoeveler's decisions dismissing one of the earlier habeas petitions. If and when Noriega's appeals are exhausted, the Secretary of State will decide whether Noriega should, in fact, be extradited.