7 News Belize

Rhett Fuller Fighting Extradition
posted (October 9, 2008)

Remember Rhett Fuller? He’s the Belizean wanted in the United States for the murder of Larry Miller which happened in Florida in 1990. The United States requested his extradition ten years ago in 1998; the Chief Magistrate gave the order to proceed in 1999, and it was appealed in 2002. With the appeal pending, nothing happened and Fuller went back to a regular, productive life in Belize. But 6 years later - the appeal has finally come up and Rhett Fuller is back in court fighting extradition to the United States for a crime he was accused of almost two decades ago! His attorney Eamon Courtenay has eight grounds for appeal and he spent the afternoon explaining the first one. It is technical but it’s basically that the Minister of Foreign Affairs who signed the extradition warrant doesn’t have the power to do so.

Eamon Courtenay, Attorney for Rhett Fuller
“The point that we were raising is that the Minister doesn’t have the power to do what he did, that is the Minister of Foreign Affairs doesn’t have the power to order that Magistrate to arrest somebody to start extradition proceedings. That goes back to very old law and as you heard me say to the judges, in our searches so we cannot find anything and what the judges said is to listen, go over night and search and search and search and see if you find something. The way it looks right now, and we have to research it overnight, is that there may be no law that authorizes the Minister to do this. Now if that is the situation, this request is unlawful and anybody else who is currently waiting for extradition, there is no law that would authorize an extradition at the moment. So it is a very important issue and we need to make certain overnight that there is no law that would authorize it.”

Keith Swift,
Sir is there any reason why the appeal took so long to come up?

Eamon Courtenay,
“I have no idea. As you know I was doing other things since 1998 but when the court moves to hear the substantive appeal, that is one of the points we are going to be saying – that this incredible delay is a matter that has prejudiced Mr. Fuller’s case and so the whole extradition should be stopped. We don’t know why the record has not been prepared for the last six years.”

The government, represented by crown counsel Priscilla Banner, will present its legal arguments tomorrow. Eamon Courtenay was Fuller’s original attorney.

Home | Archives | Downloads/Podcasts | Advertise | Contact Us

7 News Belize