The U.S. Justice Department hopes Einhorn can be deported, a spokesman said. Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham, who issued a seething statement about the French decision last week, was no less steamed yesterday. So, we're going to see what other options we have. She wouldn't elaborate. Einhorn's 1993 conviction for the crime, during a trial conducted while the old hippie was hiding from the law in Europe, did not sit well with the French courts.
French law permits a captured fugitive convicted in absentia to obtain a new trial.
The Philadelphia district attorney's office could not guarantee Einhorn a new trial. Philadelphia Deputy District Attorney Ron Eisenberg, who prosecuted Einhorn, said his office would now press the case in the political arena. Whatever recourse is available will be pursued. Philadelphia lawyer Dick Atkins, a member of the governing counsel of the International Bar Association, said Abraham should visit southern France herself to turn up the heat. And, he said, she should bring the Maddux family with her.