A week ago, we told you how Mark Seawell, the last of the Seawell Brothers who's fighting his extradition to the US, went to the Supreme Court to ask the Chief Justice to reopen his habeas corpus case. Since the judge hasn't given a ruling in 3 and a half years, Seawell's attorneys want the CJ to hear new arguments which they think could get the extradition proceedings set aside once and for all.
American law enforcement says that from the late 1990's, Mark, along with his brothers Gary and Duane, set up a marijuana and cocaine smuggling business where they recruited couriers from to transport cocaine from Mexico to the US. They allegedly hired recruiters who offered spring break vacationers all-expense paid trips to Cancun if they agreed to make the trip down to Belize and pick up a pair of tennis shoes. They would take those shoes, which had a kilogram of cocaine hidden in the soles, back to the US, and that's how the drugs were allegedly smuggled in.
Duane Seawell has already served 10 years of a 17 year prison sentence in the US, but his brother, Gary, beat the extradition in the Appeal Court last year. Mark's attorneys believe that he can use the same grounds which his brother did to get free. Now, he's been on remand for 10 years while awaiting extradition, and today, he got some good news when the Chief Justice decided to grant the reopening of the case.
It now means that his attorneys can argue that the committal warrant which has been used to keep him in jail is defective, and has damaged the extradition proceedings. His attorney, Bryan Neal, spoke with us after the judge delivered his ruling:
Bryan Neal, Attorney for Mark Seawell
"The chief justice has agreed with us, the claimants and has said that he has jurisdiction to hear further arguments in the case of Mark Seawell. So that is good news for him so far. Also he has given some dates by which we must submit for the affidavit, skeleton arguments and he has proposed the March 31st for trial. I have asked because Mr. Seawell is also represented by Mr. Ben Cooper who lives and resides in the United Kingdom. So we are hoping that Mr. Cooper will come, he has said that he will come in May, but the chief justice wants to deal with it earlier. Hopefully he can be here for those dates to actually argue the application in front of the chief justice."
Reporter
"If he's unable to make it you can carry through those arguments."
Bryan Neal, Attorney for Mark Seawell
"Well we went to law school too, so I think so."
Daniel Ortiz, 7News
"Are you all sure that this isn't just a Hail Mary attempt that you actually have solid grounds to make these further arguments on the behalf of your client?"
Bryan Neal, Attorney for Mark Seawell
"Well attorneys don't come to court to waste time. We are confident, sometimes we win but in this case we are confident based on the warrant that was issued in the case of Mark Seawell. That it is the same set of circumstances, the same set of facts, the similar flaws in the warrant and we are hoping that the chief justice will consider the application and rule in our favor. Mr. Seawell has been in prison, he was just telling me that he had a one-year-old child when he went into prison who is eleven years old now. So we really hope that we can come to a conclusion that sees this man going back to his family and his normal life."
Mark Seawell's case goes back to court on March 31, where his attorneys will attempt to convince the Chief Justice that he should be sent home on the same grounds that his brother was.
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