In re Extradition of Pedroza

IN RE EXTRADITION OF: JOSE LUCAS VELASQUEZ PEDROZA

Case No.: 19mj1696-RBB

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

February 4, 2020

FINDINGS OF FACT, CERTIFICATION OF EXTRADITABILITY, AND ORDER OF COMMITMENT

This is a proceeding under 18 U.S.C. § 1384 pursuant to a request by the Republic of Finland, through the United States of America, for the extradition of Jose Lucas Velasquez Pedroza ("Velasquez Pedroza"), a citizen of the Republic of Guatemala, from the United States to Finland. The extradition request was made under the provisions of the Extradition Treaty Between the United States of America and Finland signed June 11, 1976, as amended by the Protocol to the Extradition Treaty between the United States of America and Finland signed June 11, 1976, with Annex, signed December 16, 2004, for crimes Velasquez Pedroza is alleged to have committed in Finland. The matter proceeded to an extradition hearing on January 21, 2020. The interests of Finland were represented by the United States through the United States Department of Justice and

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/ / / Assistant United States Attorney Francis A. DiGiacco. Velasquez Pedroza appeared at the hearing and was represented by attorney Benjamin P. Lechman.

The Court, for the reasons explained below, finds Velasquez Pedroza extraditable.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Procedural History

On July 13, 2018, a warrant for the detention of Velasquez Pedroza was issued by the Helsinki District Court in criminal case numbers R 18/4889 and R 17/8841. (Crim. Compl. Attach. #1 Ex. 1 [warrant], at 39-41, ECF No. 1.) On February 26, 2019, Finland submitted a request to the United States for Velasquez Pedroza's extradition. (Id. [extradition req.], at 8-12.) On April 25, 2019, the United States, on behalf of Finland, filed a Criminal Complaint against Velasquez Pedroza requesting the issuance of an arrest warrant and a finding of extraditability. (Crim. Compl. 1-5, ECF No. 1.) Velasquez Pedroza was arrested on April 26, 2019, and appeared before Magistrate Judge Mitchell D. Dembin that same day [ECF Nos. 4, 6.]

On August 23, 2019, the United States filed a Memorandum of Law in Support of Finland's Request for Extradition [ECF No. 14]. On October 24, 2019, Velasquez Pedroza filed an opposition (captioned as a "reply") to the extradition request [ECF No. 18]. The United States filed a reply on November 7, 2019 [ECF No. 19]. The parties appeared before the Court on December 3, 2019, the date initially set for the extradition hearing, but the hearing did not go forward as Velasquez Pedroza requested a continuance. (Hr'g Tr. 2, Dec. 3, 2019, ECF No. 23.) His counsel explained that Velasquez Pedroza, who was present at the hearing, "was initially prosecuted in streamline for a 1325, he pleaded guilty, was released, but . . . prior to his release ha[d] filed an asylum application contesting his return to Guatemala." (Id.)¹ He requested anopportunity to submit supplemental briefing regarding the effect of his asylum claim on these extradition proceedings. (Id. at 3.) The Court granted the request for a continuance, issued a supplemental briefing schedule, and reset the hearing [ECF No. 20]. Velasquez Pedroza filed a supplemental brief on December 16, 2019 [ECF No. 21]. The United States filed its response on January 3, 2020 [ECF No. 22]. The Court held an extradition hearing on January 21, 2020 [ECF No. 24].

B. The Request for Extradition

Finland seeks to extradite Velasquez Pedroza to be prosecuted for one count of sexual abuse of a child and one count of rape, committed in Finland on April 30, 2016 and February 10-11, 2017, respectively. (Crim. Compl. Attach. #1 Ex. 1 [extradition req.], at 8, ECF No. 1.) Included as part of the extradition request is a description of facts provided by the Helsinki Prosecutor's Office. (Id. at 9-12.)

1. Sexual abuse of a child charge

The facts with respect to the sexual abuse of a child charge were summarized by the District Prosecutor as follows:

On the evening of 30 April 2016, [HH],² then 14-years-old (dob 26 December 2001), went to a park in Helsinki with her girlfriend [EH]. Between 10:15 and 10:45 p.m., while they sat talking on a park bench, Velasquez Pedroza and a companion, Emilio Acuña Luna, walked up to their bench, sat down, and started talking to them. Luna had a bottle of red wine which he offered to share with the girls. Velasquez Pedroza and Luna also told them that they were each 19-years-old and that Velasquez Pedroza was from Mexico and Luna from Argentina.

During the interaction which ensued, Velasquez Pedroza focused his attention on [HH] and Luna on [EH]. Velasquez Pedroza gave [HH] his cell phone number (050 917 9004) and she also took a photograph of him with her cell phone. At some point, against her will, Velasquez Pedroza grabbedthe back of [HH's] head with one hand and started to kiss her in her mouth with his tongue, and with the other hand, over her clothing, fondled her breasts and buttocks. When this occurred, [HH] asked for help, and a woman who was walking by started screaming at Velasquez Pedroza and Luna, resulting in their rapid departure.

On 2 May 2016, [HH]'s father reported the incident to the Finnish police. Because Velasquez Pedroza had given [HH] his cell phone number, the police were able to track him and question him on 8 June 2016. A DNA sample also was taken from Velasquez Pedroza when he was interviewed.

Velasquez Pedroza admitted picking up Luna from the park the night in question, but denied any involvement with [HH]. According to Velasquez Pedroza, Luna, who was highly intoxicated, was surrounded by a group of girls. When some of the girls started making hostile and provocative comments, he grabbed Luna by one of his wrists, escorted him to his (Velasquez Pedroza's) car, and drove away.

On 19 January 2019, [HH] identified the photograph of Velasquez Pedroza attached at Tab 2 of this report as that of the person who sexually abused her on 30 April 2016. (footnote omitted)

(Id. at 10.)

2. Rape charge

The District Prosecutor's description of facts relating to the rape charge is as follows:

On the evening of 10 February 2017, Susanna Korpela and her girlfriend Maria Carlander, visited friends and each consumed a couple of glasses of wine. From there, Korpela and Carlander stopped by Vlatava, a restaurant in downtown Helsinki near a train station. At the restaurant they each had a glass of wine and ordered a bottle of wine to share.

Korpela next remembers that in the early morning hours of 11 February 2017, she woke up completely naked on the floor of a dressing room of a restaurant. The restaurant was approximately 300 to 400 meters from Vlatava in the same block as the Helsinki University Unicafe. Her clothes were strewn on the floor. There was a foreign man in the room unknown to Korpela. He told her that his name was Luca, that they had had sex, and that he had saved her at the railway station when several Russianstried to take her somewhere. While Korpela had no recollection of having sex with the man, she had a sensation in her vagina that sex had taken place. After getting dressed, Korpela walked out of the building, exiting it near a subway station close to the University of Helsinki. The shops were open and she arrived home around noon.

Once at home, Korpela contacted Carlander via Facebook and advised her of what had happened. Carlander in turn notified Ville Ketola (an on-and-off boyfriend of Korpela's) about her Facebook message and he went to see her. In tears, Korpela told Ketola that she had been raped. Korpela recounted that after patronizing Vlatava the evening before, she had a vague recollection of being followed by a group of men (possibly foreigners) outside the restaurant, and then waking up naked in the company of an unknown man who had told her they had had sexual intercourse. Ketola then called the police who sent a patrol unit to Korpela's home.

After interviewing Korpela, the police took her to a forensic pathologist who medically examined her and took specimens from her vagina for spermatozoa and DNA testing. A breathalyzer test performed at 9:05 p.m. that evening showed a reading of .44%. (0.195 mg/L). A copy of the certificate of examination is appended to this report at Tab 3.

On 11 April 2017, the specimens were submitted to Y-chromosome classification at the National Bureau of Investigations Forensic Laboratory. A type Y chromosome was found in the specimen secured from Korpela. The DNA sample obtained from Velasquez Pedroza on 8 June 2016 when he was questioned about the sexual assault of [HH] also contained a Y-chromosome type matching the one from Korpela's specimen. The Y-chromosome type in question corresponds to 0.6% of the Finnish male population. A copy of the laboratory report is appended at Tab 4.

After the rape, Korpela received three WhatsApp messages from Velasquez Pedroza's cell phone number (050 917 9004). The first message on 18 February 2017 stated: "Susanna!!! T. Lukas XD"; the second on 24 June 2017 read: "Dedicada a mis amigos de todo el mundo uno pasa ala par del amo<3"; and the last on 25 July 2017 stated: "Moi! Mitä kuuluu?" (translated into English as "Hi, how ya doin?"). Korpela did not answer any of these messages.

On 22 January 2018, Velasquez Pedroza was questioned by Finnish law enforcement authorities about Korpela's allegations. While he had beenformally charged by then in the sexual abuse case (that had taken place on 17 October 2017), the officials who questioned Velasquez Pedroza were not aware that a charge had been filed against him in connection with that incident.

During the interview, Velasquez Pedroza stated that he did not remember what he had done the evening of 10 February 2017 or know anyone by the name of Susanna Korpela, and that he had not sent any WhatsApp messages to unknown women. Velasquez Pedroza added that he had spent the weekend of 11 and 12 February 2017 with his girlfriend, and that during the eleven years he had resided in

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