www.courttv.com/news/2003/0618/lustercaught_ctv.html
Hours later, Mexican police tossed both men in jail, said a Chapman colleague. Luster fled with his dog, later found at his mother's, in his Toyota 4-Runner, which was found last week. With Luster on the run, and Chapman on his trail, the trial continued. Luster, 39, was convicted in absentia of 86 counts, including multiple rape charges connected to assaults in 1996, 1997 and 2000. Police say he videotaped sexual romps with unconscious women after drugging them with the date rape drug GHB. Fleeing his crumbling case certainly didn't help Luster's chances at an appeal. Last week, an appellate court struck down an appeal by his attorney, Roger Diamond, who has said in published reports that his client's return will nonetheless reinvigorate his appeal chances. Diamond could take Luster's case to the California Supreme Court, where he could face an uphill battle. The State Department would handle any charges facing bounty hunter Chapman, which could include kidnapping Luster. While Ventura authorities employed conventional methods, Chapman used private investigator techniques, such as shadowing Luster's mother, Elizabeth Luster, who had her son's dog. Chapman shortened his leash on Luster -- he estimated that he was five days behind the fugitive's trail when he began -- when he found Luster's ditched SUV in Santa Monica, Calif. Boasting 6,000 successful captures, Chapman had his eye on Mexico as early as January. Resort employees and local residents often respond to one timeless tactic: Handing a potential tipster half of a torn hundred-dollar bill, and promising the other half when their tips pay off. A Puerto Vallarta newspaper reporter, Angela Corelis, said that fugitive take-downs are commonplace in the resort town.
|
http://csua.com/feed/