Opinion ID: 1139376
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Substantially Charged

Text: Section 16-19-104, C.R.S.1973 (C.R.S. 1963, 60-1-3), provides: The indictment, information, or affidavit made before the magistrate must substantially charge the person demanded with having committed a crime under the law of that state. The appellant contends that he was not substantially charged with a crime under the laws of California because he was charged pursuant to the wrong statutory provision. The alleged criminal conduct which is in issue concerns White's failure to pay a hotel bill which amounted to more than $100. The requisition papers reflect that White is charged with burglary, a felony defined in Cal. Penal Code § 459 (West 1970). White asserts that he should have been charged with defrauding an innkeeper, a misdemeanor defined in Cal. Penal Code § 537 (West 1970). In support of his position, White urges that California law requires a district attorney to charge the accused with a specific offense when the alleged conduct falls within the ambit of more than one statutorily defined crime. People v. Fiene, 226 Cal.App.2d 305, 37 Cal.Rptr. 925 (1964); People v. Wood, 161 Cal.App.2d 24, 325 P.2d 1014 (1958). The appellant has misconstrued the statutory requirements in Colorado. The law of extradition in Colorado requires that the defendant be charged with a crime under the laws of the demanding state and does not impose the burden on the courts of the asylum state to determine whether the defendant has been correctly charged with committing a particular offense. To comply with the statutory requirement that an accused be substantially charged with an offense if he is to be extradited, the charging document must be framed substantially in the statutory language. The asylum state need only determine whether the accused is charged with an extraditable offense. Any question relating to the sufficiency of the information or the technical accuracy of the charge is left to the courts of the demanding state to resolve. See Beliajus v. Phillips, 170 Colo. 212, 460 P.2d 233 (1969); Dressel v. Bianco, 168 Colo. 517, 452 P.2d 756 (1969); Bartz v. Capra, 161 Colo. 503, 423 P.2d 25 (1967); Threadgill v. Capra, 161 Colo. 453, 423 P.2d 318 (1967); Capra v. Ballarby, 158 Colo. 91, 405 P.2d 205 (1965). Were it otherwise, the courts of this state would be forced to embark upon an exegesis into the merits of each case and into the substantive law and pleading practices of the State of California. In addition to violating precepts of comity between the states, such an obligation would unduly burden an already strained court system. See Drew v. Thaw, 235 U.S. 432, 35 S.Ct. 137, 59 L.Ed. 302 (1914); Pierce v. Creecy, 210 U.S. 387, 28 S.Ct. 714, 52 L.Ed. 1113 (1907); Roberts v. Reilly, 116 U.S. 80, 6 S.Ct. 291, 29 L.Ed. 544 (1885); Home v. Wilson, 316 F.Supp. 247 (E.D. Tenn.1970). White was charged in the requisition documents with having entered a building with the intent to commit theft in violation of Section 459 of the California Penal Code. Section 459 provides that one commits burglary by entering a building with the intent to commit grand or petit larceny or any felony. Consequently, White was substantially charged with the commission of a crime.