A U.S. judge on Friday expressed doubt about arguments by two Massachusetts men seeking to prevent extradition to Japan to face charges they helped former Nissan Motor CEO Carlos Ghosn escape the country.
U.S. Army Special Forces veteran Michael Taylor and his son, Peter Taylor, were arrested in May following Japan’s request, after being accused of smuggling Ghosn out of Japan in a box on a private jet so he could flee to Lebanon.
Ghosn fled in December while awaiting trial over allegations involving financial misconduct, including by understating his compensation in Nissan’s financial statements. Ghosn rejects these allegations.
The Taylors’ lawyer, Abbe Lowell, during a virtual hearing informed U.S. Magistrate Judge Donald Cabell in Boston that Japanese prosecutors put forth a biased interpretation of their laws to justify bringing defective charges against the two men.
Lowell said Japan’s penal code does not make it a crime to assist someone “bail jump,” and that the Taylors could be charged only if Japanese officials were already pursuing Ghosn pre-escape.
“To help somebody hide, to use the children’s game, there has to be someone seeking,” said Lowell.
But Cabell stated he was concerned about letting U.S. courts usurp the authority of Japan’s courts to decide if the elder Taylor, a private security specialist, and his son breached Japanese law.
“It has the potential of keeping this issue from being truly being fleshed out and truly being considered by the experts who really would be in the best position to opine on it, which is to say the judges and the courts in Japan,” Cabell stated.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Hassink prompted Cabell to defer to Japan. Cabell said he would rule under a week.
Should courts agree the Taylors can be extradited, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo would be the one to ultimately decide whether to surrender them.
