Extradition from Italy to the United States—Joseph Henn Update

In February, we mentioned that a Rome court had approved the extradition of Joseph Henn, a Catholic priest wanted in Arizona for allegedly molesting three boys in the 1980s. Mr. Henn, it now seems, is “fleeing Italian authorities to avoid facing 13 felony counts of child molestation in Maricopa County Superior Court.”^[1] Last Thursday, “the Italian Supreme Court reaffirmed an appeals court’s ruling calling for [Mr.] Henn’s extradition, and the Italian Ministry of Justice was expected to order [his] transfer to US custody within 45 days.”^[2]

Mr. Henn apparently “disappeared about two weeks ago,” according to his American superiors in the Society of the Divine Savior.^[3] The religious order “in no way supports what appears to be this decision on [Mr.] Henn’s part to leave without authorization and in violation of the regulations of his house arrest.”^[4] According to the terms of his house arrest, he was allowed to leave his domicile “only to visit his doctor or lawyer.”^[5] Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas said that Italian authorities “are searching for [Mr.] Henn and have sought a warrant for his arrest from Interpol.”^[6]

This isn’t strictly accurate. Interpol, as we have mentioned before, does not issue arrest warrants. Interpol is an information-sharing organization, and what is more accurate and likely is that Italian authorities have issued an arrest warrant for Mr. Henn, which they will have forwarded to Interpol, which will then send out a Red Notice. The Red Notice will notify all Interpol member nations that there is an arrest warrant for Mr. Henn, which often serves as authority for that nation to preliminarily arrest the individual with an eye toward extradition back to the country which issued the warrant. The country which issued the warrant—in Mr. Henn’s case, either the US or Italy—must then make a formal request for extradition.

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[1] Michael Clancy, Priest Vanishes Before Facing Felony Sex Charges, Arizona Republic, Aug. 1, 2006.
[2] Priest Awaiting Extradition to Phoenix Flees from Italian Authorities, AP (via Arizona Daily Star), Aug. 2, 2006.
[3] Reese Dunklin, Priest Wanted in US Missing in Italy, Dallas Morning News, Aug. 1, 2006.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] Clancy, supra note 1.