Episode notes
On April 2, 1990, Dr. Humberto Alvarez-Machain was abducted by agents of the U.S. Government, from his medical office in Mexico and flown against his will to El Paso, Texas. He eventually appeared in Los Angeles federal court to answer charges he participated in the kidnapping and murder of DEA Special Agent Enrique Camarena. U.S. District Court Judge Edward Rafeedie deemed the kidnapping illegal, dismissed the indictment against Alvarez-Machain and ordered him returned to Mexico. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Affirmed Rafeedie’s decision. The case eventually went to the U.S. Supreme Court, where the decision was reversed, and remanded back to the District Court for Alvarez-Machain to stand trial. After the government presented its’ case in chief, Judge Rafeedie granted a defense motion for summary judgment and entered a directed verdic ...