By DAWN HOBBS
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

A half dozen people wanted in the slayings of Santa Barbara residents are believed to be living free in Mexico.

Santa Barbara police detectives even know where three of them live. But there's not much they can do about it.

"If I had unfettered access to the proper investigative tools and contacts, we could have them in custody within a matter of days," said Detective Tim Roberts, who with Detective Greg Wilkins runs the police department's Cold Case Unit. "But that's not the case."

Mexico, a heavily Catholic nation, opposes capital punishment and refuses to extradite defendants for cases unless U.S. authorities pledge not to seek the death penalty.

And more recently, life imprisonment was declared by Mexico to be unconstitutional.

In October 2001, Mexico's Supreme Court handed down a ruling that forbids Mexico to extradite anyone -- whether he or she is a Mexican citizen or not -- if there's a possibility that person could face life in prison.

Los Angeles County's district attorney and sheriff have been pressuring the Bush administration to take up the differences with Mexico ever since David March, a sheriff's deputy, was shot to death during a traffic stop in April 2002. The alleged killer, Armando Garcia, has since been living in Mexico -- along with an estimated 800 other suspects from California.

Six suspected in Santa Barbara County homicides are believed to have fled to Mexico: Mario Soto Taboada, of Santa Teresa, Guerrero; Lionel Barajas, hometown unknown; Juan Diego Felix Leon, of Villa Adolfo Lopez Mateos, Sinaloa; Olivel Araujo Madrid, of Bodiraruato, Sinaloa; Pedro Alonso Bravo, of Ejutia, Oaxaca; and Miguel Godoy Morales, of Tijuana, B.C.

 
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"Mexico is basically unwilling to render anyone to the United States who is facing a penalty that is not agreeable to them," Detective Roberts said. "They have standards of punishment that are different than ours and unless we comply with their standards, they're basically unwilling to extradite any murderers back to the United States."

But local Mexican officials disagree. They say bringing a suspected killer back to the United States for prosecution is not a difficult task.

"Mexico will not allow delivery of a suspect if (U.S. prosecutors) are looking for the death penalty because we are against the death penalty as a country," said Fernando Gamboa, the Mexican Consul in Oxnard. "But if they are looking at a different punishment, it is a different case. It is very easy to get them back."

But that's only if a specific sentence of less than life in prison can be promised. Typically, a convicted murderer will serve no more than 40 years in Mexico. However, California has indeterminate sentencing laws -- which usually result in sentences such as 25 years to life for murder convictions.

"Mexico believes their system is one that is based on rehabilitation of the individual," said U.S. Special Assistant Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, who is in charge of law enforcement issues dealing with Mexico.

"Because a life sentence does not allow for rehabilitation and re-entry into the community, their Supreme Court ruled that they would no longer allow extraditions where there was a life sentence pending. Texas has been successful in extradition recently because they do not have life without parole. They've been able to convince Mexico their sentences are for a set term and that they will be paroled. California will not have that success."

Two options are left, Mr. Gonzalez explained -- allow the Mexican government to prosecute and sentence the suspected killer or have the local district attorney amend the charge from first-degree murder to second-degree murder or manslaughter, which would bring a lesser sentence.

Article Four of the Mexican Federal Penal Code allows a Mexican national who has been charged with committing a crime in a foreign country that is also a crime in Mexico to be prosecuted and sentenced by the Mexican government.

Frequently, however, sentences in Mexico are not as lengthy as those imposed in the U.S.

The other option is to "down charge."

For instance, rather than file a first-degree murder charge, which could bring life imprisonment or the death penalty, a charge of manslaughter -- with its lesser penalty -- might be filed.

"But there's a a great reluctance to down charge -- district attorneys find it distasteful," Mr. Gonzalez said. "Even though the U.S. State Department is aware of this problem, they are willing to work with any prosecutor who is willing to down charge. They are not encouraging it, but there is the exception if they come up with a sentence that is substantial. It's just a question of how bad you want someone."

Santa Barbara County District Attorney Tom Sneddon adamantly opposes lowering any charge to appease the Mexican government.

"Absolutely not!" Mr. Sneddon said. "Because someone is caught here, their sentence is life. But if they're brought back from Mexico they serve a lesser sentence even though their crime is every bit as serious -- what sort of justice is that?"

Additionally, its the state Legislature that determines punishments for crimes.

"I am not going to hanky-panky around with the Legislature over the punishment for someone who kills someone," Mr. Sneddon said. "I'm simply not going to be part of that game. I'm not going to play around with the system simply because the American government and the Mexican government can't get their acts together."

Mr. Sneddon is equally angry about the inherent problems of Article Four.

"Their treaty allows for Mexico to only try those who are Mexican citizens," he said. "If an American commits a crime and goes to Mexico, there's no treaty that allows them to try an American in Mexico and those are some of the worst cases we have in this state. There are some pretty serious multiple killings and a cop killing where they've run to Mexico."

Mr. Sneddon is actively involved in the effort of the National District Attorney and the California District Attorney associations to persuade U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft to address the situation.

"We go to meetings and they keep telling us to be patient," Mr. Sneddon said. "It's going on 2 1/2 years now and we're no where near a resolution. My personal opinion is that there is no will within the federal government to do something about it.

"It needs to be a national political issue," he said. "Victims' associations needs to take it up. ... And then maybe during the presidential elections people will start asking what the hell is going on.... We have all kinds of leverage on Mexico with money and treaties and trade. I can't think of anything more important than preserving the integrity of our criminal justice system and the protection of the public. And that's what is at the core of this whole thing."