Extradition from Italy to the United States—Denied

Last December, we mentioned that Benedetto Cipriani was facing extradition from Italy to the United States, and that, but for an application for a stay in the proceedings, extradition was a done deal.

An Italian court, however, has now “ruled against the extradition” of Mr. Cipriani, who is wanted in connection with a 2003 triple homicide in Connecticut.^[1] The court’s reason was that “extraditing someone to a country that has the death penalty would violate Italy’s own constitution.”^[2]

This is extremely interesting because Connecticut prosecutors have already “told Italian officials that Mr. Cipriani would not fact capital charges if returned to the state,”^[3] as is typically done to ensure the return of an individual from a country which has abolished the death penalty.^[4] The fact that prosecutors conceded the point and the court still refused suggests that the very fact that the death penalty is legal in the United States has created an absolute bar to extradition as far as Italy is concerned. That, at least, is the implication of the available public statements in this case.

Mr. Cipriani, however, will not simply go free if he is not extradited; Italy will put him to trial for allegedly hiring three men to kill Bobby Stears, Barry Rossi, and Lorne R. Stevens.^[5]

---

[1] Court Rules Out Extradition, AP (via Hartford Courant), Oct. 11, 2006.
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] See, e.g., our post yesterday.
[5] AP, supra note 1.