Opinion ID: 785392
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Sufficiency/Reliability of the Evidence: FIRs 89, 34 and 100

Text: 34 Article 9 of the Treaty provides: [t]he extradition shall take place only if the evidence be found sufficient ... to justify the committal of the prisoner for trial. Treaty, supra p. 1 at art. IX. As discussed in the judge's extradition order, this language provides a probable cause standard identical to that used by courts in federal criminal preliminary hearings. In re Extradition of Singh, 170 F.Supp.2d at 993 (quoting Sidali v. I.N.S., 107 F.3d 191, 199 (3d Cir.1997)); see also Charlton v. Kelly, 229 U.S. 447, 461, 33 S.Ct. 945, 57 L.Ed. 1274 (1913); Mirchandani v. United States, 836 F.2d 1223, 1226 (9th Cir.1988). To satisfy this standard, the government requesting extradition has the burden of producing evidence sufficient to give the magistrate reasonable ground to believe the accused was guilty. Quinn, 783 F.2d at 790 (quoting Fernandez v. Phillips, 268 U.S. 311, 312, 45 S.Ct. 541, 69 L.Ed. 970 (1925)). If there is any competent evidence in the record to support the finding of probable cause, the extradition order must be upheld. Id. at 791. 35 Although the magistrate recognized that the evidence India presented, may be insufficient [at trial] to meet the evidentiary burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt, he correctly recognized that this is not a trial on the merits, and that uncorroborated witness statements can by themselves establish probable cause. In re Extradition of Singh, 170 F.Supp.2d at 1015-16 (citing Bozilov v. Seifert, 983 F.2d 140, 143 (9th Cir.1992)); Fernandez, 268 U.S. at 312, 45 S.Ct. 541 (Competent evidence to establish reasonable grounds is not necessarily evidence competent to convict.); Zanazanian, 729 F.2d at 626-27. But for Barapind's substantial contradictory, conflicting, and in some instances totally inconsistent evidence, as well as evidence that India's police force engaged in fabrication of evidence, torture, and coercion, the competence and effect of India's evidence would not be in doubt. In re Extradition of Singh, 170 F.Supp.2d at 1016. In order to resolve this conflict, and to determine whether probable cause existed to extradite Barapind, or whether it had been obliterated, the magistrate meticulously analyzed each FIR. There is ample competent evidence in the record to support the magistrate's judicious probable cause determinations.
36 On September 6, 1992, Sohan Singh was asleep on the roof of his private residence along with his wife Gurmail Kaur and sons Paramjit Singh and Kashmir Singh. His third son, Karamjit Singh and his wife, Kulwant Kaur, were sleeping in a room in the house. All three of Sohan Singh's sons were considered to be pro-police, and as a result had been issued arms and ammunition by the police for self-defense. Around 2:00 a.m., four persons, one of whom Sohan Singh identified as Barapind, came on to the roof of the residence. Sohan Singh observed his son, Kashmir, attempt to chamber a round in his rifle. At that point Barapind shot Kashmir Singh with an AK-47, killing him. Barapind then shot Paramjit Singh to death in the presence of Sohan Singh and his wife, Gurmail Kaur. The assailants asked Gurmail Kaur the whereabouts of her third son, Karamjit Singh. Gurmail Kaur, out of fear, told the assailants Karamjit Singh was sleeping in another room. Barapind stayed on the roof and the three other assailants went downstairs to Karamjit Singh's room, broke open the door, and shot to death Karamjit Singh and his wife Kulwant Kaur. Before leaving, the four assailants took the arms and ammunition of the three victims. Sohan Singh, who was not wounded or killed, gave physical descriptions of the assailants and stated that an electric light bulb was on during the shooting which aided his and his wife's identification of Barapind. Sohan could not identify the other three assailants, who Sohan stated went downstairs and shot Karamjit and his wife Kulwant. Sohan did not sign his original statement, but rather is said to have affixed his thumbprint on it. No thumb-printed statement was submitted with the request, however, Sohan Singh identified Barapind by affixing his thumb print on the reverse side of a picture of Barapind, which is in the record. 37 Although the court ultimately determined that the murder of the three brothers was a political offense, it certified extradition as to the murder of Kulwant Kaur, the wife of Karamjit Singh because there was no evidence that she was a police collaborator. The court found that unlike the other victims, she was an innocent civilian who had been murdered, and that probable cause existed to believe Barapind to be a co-perpetrator. In re Extradition of Singh, 170 F.Supp.2d at 1023-24. 38 Barapind does not contest the facts as related by Sohan Singh, but he contends that the evidence presented fails to establish a prima facie case of the murder of Kulwant Kaur. Barapind claims that in order to be found guilty of a murder in which he did not pull the trigger, there would need to be a showing that he had culpable intent. He argues that such evidence is lacking. He is correct, in that under Indian Penal Code § 108, Barapind would be guilty of murder only if he had the same intention or knowledge as the person who actually pulled the trigger. India Pen.Code § 108. Barapind, however, fails to recognize, [t]he function of the committing magistrate is to determine whether there is competent evidence to justify holding the accused to await trial, and not to determine whether evidence is sufficient to justify a conviction. Collins v. Loisel, 259 U.S. 309, 316, 42 S.Ct. 469, 66 L.Ed. 956. The evidence offered by Barapind might raise an evidentiary defense to the charges; however, it does not affect the probable cause determination, and thus the magistrate properly declared Barapind extraditable as a co-perpetrator of the murder charged in F.I.R. 89. A fair inference from the evidence in this context is that Barapind shared the criminal intent of his confederates. 39 2. FIR 34: The Murders of Balwant Singh Sarhal, Amar Nath Kanugo, Suda Ram, and Jasbir Singh 40 The events underlying F.I.R. 34 were recounted by Nirmal Singh to officer Surinder Pal while on patrol on April 26, 1992. Nirmal approached officer Pal and told him that he saw Balwant Singh Sarhal, an ex-Member of the Legislative Assembly along with Amar Nath Kanugo of the Deputy Commissioner Office, Jalandhar, and two armed constables come from the side of Village Garhi Mohan Singh in a gypsy vehicle, which was driven by Balwant Singh Sarhal. Officer Pal states that Nirmal Singh reported that Barapind and two other men opened fire on the vehicle and shot and killed Balwant Singh Sarhal and the three other occupants of the vehicle. The four assailants took Bulwant Singh's bodyguard's weapons, and went towards the village of Dhandwar. 41 Contrary to this version of the facts, Barapind submitted an additional affidavit of Nirmal Singh, drafted in 2001. Nirmal admits that he witnessed the shooting, but he denies identifying any of the assailants for the police. 42 Although the magistrate acknowledged that, without a trial-like proceeding, one could not accurately make a credibility determination regarding Nirmal's two conflicting bare affidavits that directly contradict one another, he ultimately determined that probable cause had not been obliterated or explained away. 43 Inherent in the probable cause standard is the necessity of a determination that the evidence is both sufficiently reliable and of sufficient weight to warrant the conclusion. United States v. Lui Kin-Hong, 110 F.3d 103, 120 (1st Cir.1997). Barapind argues that the magistrate's inability to make a credibility determination indicates that the judge did not make an affirmative finding as to the competence of the evidence, and thus the probable cause determination was not adequately supported. Although the judge stated that the competence of India's evidence cannot be determined without a trial, the conclusion that probable cause has not been defeated necessarily implies that he made a decision as to the weight of the evidence. As would be the case in many preliminary hearings, the evidence presented revealed conflicts regarding motive, bias, and credibility of the witnesses that will not be resolved until trial. However, the inability of the judge to make a credibility determination on a written record does not mean that the low threshold for ordering a trial has not been satisfied. Although the contradictory affidavits offered by Barapind might ultimately create doubt as to the veracity of the evidence, they were not sufficient in this context to explain away or obliterate India's evidence. Barapind failed to satisfy this daunting standard, and thus the court correctly concluded that probable cause was not defeated under these circumstances. Id. at 1025. Given that the weight to be accorded the witness statements is within the sole discretion of the magistrate, we cannot say that he lacked any evidence upon which to support his decision. 44 3. FIR 100: The Murder of Sahib Singh and the Attempted Murder of Makhan Ram 45 The events alleged in F.I.R. 100 took place after Makhan Ram went to visit his sister on October 26, 1991. At 6:45 p.m., he left with Sahab Singh, a.k.a. Sahbi, to go to Sahab Singh's house. At 7:15 p.m., they were about to cross railway tracks when they encountered two individuals on a scooter. Makhan Ram identified the driver of the scooter as Barapind, and the passenger as Gurdeep Singh, a.k.a. Deepa, who was holding an AK-47 rifle. Gurdeep Singh opened fire, wounding Makhan Ram in the thigh and foot. Sahab Singh was shot to death at the scene. While en route to the hospital, Makhan met police officer Inderjit Singh who took Makhan's statement. Although the original statement is not signed, in the 1998 supplement Makhan Ram identified Barapind by signing the reverse side of a picture of Barapind. 46 Barapind also submitted an affidavit of Makhan Ram, prepared in 2001, in which he denies having identified Barapind in a photograph or otherwise. Ram claims that the police falsely filed a drug case against him, and that while he was in custody, they forced him to prepare two false affidavits for this case. In addition, Barapind submits the affidavit of Kulwant Singh, who was listed as an identifying witness in F.I.R. 100, but refused to give any affidavit to the police. Kulwant Singh claims that he did not know Barapind and that he never gave any identifying statement to the police. 47 As the extradition court noted, Barapind does not provide any facts from which it is possible to evaluate motives or possible bias associated with the affidavits obtained in 2001. This lack of supporting information on the part of Barapind led the magistrate to state that [a]lthough substantial doubt is created by the contradictory affidavits of Makhan Ram and Kulwant Singh, the competence of India's probable cause evidence requires a trial to resolve the existing material credibility disputes. In re Extradition of Singh, 170 F.Supp.2d at 1025. On its face, India's evidence established probable cause, and thus Barapind had the burden of negating that finding. The original affidavits provided some competent evidence for the magistrate's finding of probable cause, and thus the decision must be upheld.