A Brooklyn Hasidic man who has been in Israel for the past three years, avoiding NYC authorities, will be extradited back to the U.S. to face charges related to the beating of a young black man in Crown Heights. The Daily News reports, "A Jerusalem court Thursday approved the extradition of Yitzhak Shuchat, 28, who’s been indicted for assault as a hate crime and other counts for the alleged baton beatdown of Andrew Charles in 2008." more ›

One day after the anniversary of Malcolm X's assassination, daughter Malikah Shabazz faces extradition to New York after being arrested in North Carolina on charges of identity theft. Warrants for her arrest were issued by the Queens DA office last June for obtaining credit in the name of Khaula Bakr, the widow of of one of Malcolm X's bodyguards. She was found when police came to her Asheville to ask why her 13-year-old daughter hadn't been attending school. more ›

Oscar-winning director Roman Polanski will not be extradited to the U.S. to face sexual abuse charges. Today, the Swiss Justice Ministry announced, "The 76-year-old French-Polish film director Roman Polanski will not be extradited to the USA. The freedom-restricting measures against him have been revoked." The AP reports, "The Swiss mostly blamed U.S. authorities for failing to provide confidential testimony about Polanski's sentencing procedure in 1977-1978. The Justice Ministry also said that national interests were taken into consideration in the decision." more ›

Why isn't this surprising? The trial of Milan Kovacevic, a SUNY Binghamton student who fled the U.S. for Serbia after beating a classmate into a coma, was postponed, because Kovacevic's lawyer was too busy with other cases to appear in court. Kovacevic is being tried in his native country after a deal brokered by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that also gave beating victim Bryan Steinhauer $900,000. According to the AP, a "relaxed-looking" Kovacevic told a panel of judges, "I will not make any statement without the presence of my lawyer." Convenient! more ›

Roman Polanski's lawyer told Swiss newspapers that the acclaimed and controversial filmmaker is not in great shape. Herve Temine visited the 76-year-old, who has been in Swiss custody since September 26, and said to one paper, "I found him to be tired and depressed," and told another, "Roman Polanski...seemed very dejected when I visited him. Polanski was in an unsettled state of mind." Earlier this week, the Swiss authorities denied his request for bail. more ›

Filmmaker Roman Polanski will have to cool his heels in a Swiss jail for a little while longer, because his request that he be released from prison was denied. Folco Galli, a spokesman for the Federal Office of Justice in Bern, said, "We are still persuaded that there is still a danger that he will escape, and that liberation on bail could not guarantee his presence through the extradition proceedings." more ›

After the French Foreign Minister denounced the Swiss arrest—by way of U.S. arrest warrant for the 1977 rape of a 13-year-old— of filmmaker Roman Polanski by saying, "In the same way that there is a generous America that we like, there is also a scary America that has just shown its face," now the French government has offered a more measured view. According to Arts Beat, a French government spokesman said, "Roman Polanski is neither above or below the law... We have a judicial proceeding underway that is a serious affair, the rape of a minor, for which the American and Swiss justice systems are carrying on their work." more ›

Film director Roman Polanski, currently held in Swiss custody on a U.S. arrest warrant for the 1977 rape of a 13-year-old girl, will fight extradition, according to his lawyer. Herve Temine said, "Taking into account the extraordinary conditions of his arrest, his Swiss lawyer will seek his freedom without delay. He was shocked, dumbfounded, but he is in a fighting mood and he is very determined to defend himself." more ›