Extradition

A 32-year-old man wanted on charges of sexually assaulting girls in Washington County and in Berkeley County, W.Va., waived extradition Wednesday in Berkeley County Circuit Court and will be returned to Maryland to face 27 counts filed against him there.   Richard “Ricky” Ernest Brightwell, of 25 Pilgrim St. in Inwood, W.Va., is charged with four counts of first-degree rape, four counts of second-degree rape, four counts of second-degree assault, four counts third-degree sexual offense, two counts of kidnapping/child under 16, one count of first-degree assault, three counts of false imprisonment, four counts of handgun possession or in vehicle, and use of a firearm in commission of felony, according to court records.

A man charged with first-degree murder was being held in the Eastern Regional Jail Sunday, awaiting extradition to Orange County, Va., according to a news release from the Orange County Sheriff's Office. James Melvin Smith, 43, was being held, as a fugitive, without bond, as well as on a $50,000 bond for an outstanding Virginia warrant, according to the jail. A staff member at the jail said Smith was incarcerated there on Saturday. Investigators from the Orange County Sheriff's Office and West Virginia State Police questioned Smith about a murder, the news release states.

A New York man fighting extradition from the United Kingdom to Washington County on a 2006 murder charge sustained a setback last month when the European Court of Human Rights ruled he would not be subject to “inhuman and degrading treatment” if he were returned to the United States. Joshua D. Edwards, 24, whose last address was Brooklyn, N.Y., was indicted in October 2006 in the July 23, 2006, shooting death of Jackson Agustin Rodriguez. He also was indicted on a charge of  attempted murder in the shooting of Tony Perry in a Washington Gardens apartment.

BERN, Switzerland (AP) -- Roman Polanski was declared a free man on Monday after Switzerland rejected a U.S. request to extradite him to be sentenced for having sex in 1977 with a 13-year-old girl. The Swiss government blamed the decision on U.S. authorities, saying they had failed to address defense arguments that the 76-year-old filmmaker had actually served his sentence before fleeing Los Angeles three decades ago. Nine months after arresting Polanski, the Swiss Justice Ministry said U.S. officials should have backed up their request by providing confidential testimony about Polanski's sentencing procedure in L.A. "Mr. Polanski can now move freely," Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf declared.

Three Hagerstown men charged in a fatal shooting Saturday morning outside of a Martinsburg nightclub waived extradition to West Virginia on Tuesday in Washington County District Court. The Berkeley County Sheriff's Department obtained a warrant for murder against Brock Jerome Smith, 21, of 623 George St. Warrants for accessory after the fact of murder were obtained for Octoviol Zshemek Taft, 20, of 141 Wakefield Road, and Dionnday Mynetriel Anderson, 20, of 140 S. Prospect St., the sheriff's department said.

A man criminally charged in Friday's triple shooting in Quincy Township, Pa., remained in an Ohio jail Sunday awaiting extradition to Pennsylvania. Kevin M. Cleeves, 35, faces three counts of criminal homicide in the deaths of Brandi N. (Killingsworth) Cleeves, Vincent Luke Santucci Jr. and Rosemary Holma. Pennsylvania State Police allege Kevin Cleeves killed the adults in a Pa. 997 driveway and fled with his 4-year-old daughter, Leia, before being apprehended in Mahoning County, Ohio.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - A Martinsburg man remains in Eastern Regional Jail without bail, awaiting extradition to Philadelphia on a murder charge. Clarence Douglas Grantham, 19, of 322 Boyd Ave., was charged Monday with being a fugitive in connection with a June 22, 1997, slaying in Philadelphia. U.S. Marshal Jeff Stine said authorities here learned about the Philadelphia warrant through U.S. marshals in Philadelphia. "The Philadelphia Police Department is on a task force with the U.S. marshals in Philadelphia and whenever they get a fugitive who's wanted, they give it to the marshals to find," Stine said.

A man arrested last year by the U.S. Marshals Service is facing extradition to Puerto Rico, but not on the homicide warrant on which he was apprehended. Carlos Baez-Quinonez, who was 24 when arrested in May 2012, appeared in the Franklin County (Pa.) Court of Common Pleas on Thursday before Senior Judge John Walker. Walker ordered Baez-Quinonez be extradited to Puerto Rico on a parole violation warrant issued by that commonwealth. He said the defendant has 30 days to appeal his ruling.

A day after his preliminary hearing on local drug charges, Jonathan Frederick Bennett was back in Washington County District Court Thursday, this time to waive extradition to Berkeley County, W.Va., on a murder charge. Bennett, 39, of Charlottesville, Va., is charged in the March 6 shooting death of Geronimo Garcia-Cruz, 26, of Winchester, Va., whose body was found in the stairwell of an apartment building at the Suncrest Apartments in Martinsburg. The Berkeley County Sheriff's Department charged Bennett with shooting Garcia-Cruz, alleging that he was killed in the second-floor apartment of Ashley Nicole Carpegna, an exotic dancer Garcia-Cruz had met several hours earlier at the strip club where she worked.

By DON AINES Staff Writer, Martinsburg MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - A Hedgesville, W.Va., man who escaped from a mental hospital prior to his Sept. 23 murder trial has waived extradition back to West Virginia, according to Berkeley County Prosecuting Attorney Pamela Games-Neely. Games-Neely said Monday she was informed Friday that Banner Cornell Catlett, 21, had waived extradition from California. He had been arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department's Fugitive Warrant Section on Sept.

A mistrial has been declared in Washington County Circuit Court in the case of a New York man charged in a 2006 murder in Hagerstown, because his defense attorney had represented a key state witness in a custody case. Joshua Edwards, 25, spent more than five years fighting extradition from England before he was returned to Hagerstown last year to face first-degree murder in the July 23, 2006, killing of Jackson A. Rodriguez in an apartment in the Washington Gardens complex. Edwards, formerly of Brooklyn, N.Y., also was charged in the same incident with the attempted murder of Tony Perry, who survived a gunshot wound to the head.

A man arrested last year by the U.S. Marshals Service is facing extradition to Puerto Rico, but not on the homicide warrant on which he was apprehended. Carlos Baez-Quinonez, who was 24 when arrested in May 2012, appeared in the Franklin County (Pa.) Court of Common Pleas on Thursday before Senior Judge John Walker. Walker ordered Baez-Quinonez be extradited to Puerto Rico on a parole violation warrant issued by that commonwealth. He said the defendant has 30 days to appeal his ruling.

A Brooklyn, N.Y., man who fought extradition from Great Britain for more than five years on a 2006 murder charge in Washington County will have another two months to prepare for trial. Circuit Court Judge M. Kenneth Long Jr. on Thursday granted a motion from Joshua Edwards to delay his trial, which was scheduled for three days beginning Dec. 19. Long rescheduled the trial for four days beginning Feb. 19, 2013. Defense attorney Bernard W. Semler II, who replaced Edwards' previous attorney in September, told Long that he has more than 2,000 pages of discovery materials to review.

The attorney for a man charged with murder who fought extradition from Great Britain for more than five years said Wednesday in Washington County Circuit Court that he wants his client's trial postponed, in part because many witnesses in the 2006 case have yet to be located. Joshua Edwards, 25, who was from Brooklyn, N.Y., was indicted in October 2006 in the July 23, 2006, fatal shooting of Jackson A. Rodriguez in a Washington Gardens apartment near Hagerstown. He was returned to Washington County in July after the European Court of Human Rights ruled that he could be extradited because the United States government had provided assurances that he would not face the death penalty.

After fighting extradition for years, a man accused in a 2006 killing in Hagerstown was returned from Great Britain and being held without bond Monday at the Washington County Detention Center. Joshua Edwards, 26, who was from Brooklyn, N.Y., is charged in the fatal shooting of Jackson Agustin Rodriguez in a Washington Gardens apartment on July 23, 2006. Another man, Tony Perry, was shot and lost an eye in the incident. Edwards was in Washington County Circuit Court Monday for a bond hearing before Judge M. Kenneth Long Jr., who ordered Edwards held without bond pending a Dec. 19 trial.

A man criminally charged in Friday's triple shooting in Quincy Township, Pa., remained in an Ohio jail Sunday awaiting extradition to Pennsylvania. Kevin M. Cleeves, 35, faces three counts of criminal homicide in the deaths of Brandi N. (Killingsworth) Cleeves, Vincent Luke Santucci Jr. and Rosemary Holma. Pennsylvania State Police allege Kevin Cleeves killed the adults in a Pa. 997 driveway and fled with his 4-year-old daughter, Leia, before being apprehended in Mahoning County, Ohio.

A man charged with first-degree murder was being held in the Eastern Regional Jail Sunday, awaiting extradition to Orange County, Va., according to a news release from the Orange County Sheriff's Office. James Melvin Smith, 43, was being held, as a fugitive, without bond, as well as on a $50,000 bond for an outstanding Virginia warrant, according to the jail. A staff member at the jail said Smith was incarcerated there on Saturday. Investigators from the Orange County Sheriff's Office and West Virginia State Police questioned Smith about a murder, the news release states.

A Martinsburg man who was shot in the chest and then shocked with a stun gun multiple times in March by Martinsburg police has been extradited back from Virginia, according to court and jail records. Douglas Charles Butler, 44, who was being treated at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Va., was arraigned by Magistrate Sandra L. Miller on one count of attempted malicious wounding, according to court records and police. Butler was being held Thursday night at Eastern Regional Jail on a $15,000 bond, according to jail records.

 A man who was shot by a Martinsburg police officer and shocked with a stun gun multiple times faces extradition from Virginia, where he was still being treated Tuesday, authorities said. Martinsburg police Detective S.F. Doyle said Tuesday he could not comment on Douglas Charles Butler's medical condition, but said the department would pursue his extradition from Virginia to be prosecuted on a charge of attempted malicious wounding. Butler was flown to Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Va., after he was shot in the chest by an officer and shocked with a Taser, which uses electrical current to disrupt an individual's voluntary muscle control.

A New York man fighting extradition from the United Kingdom to Washington County on a 2006 murder charge sustained a setback last month when the European Court of Human Rights ruled he would not be subject to “inhuman and degrading treatment” if he were returned to the United States. Joshua D. Edwards, 24, whose last address was Brooklyn, N.Y., was indicted in October 2006 in the July 23, 2006, shooting death of Jackson Agustin Rodriguez. He also was indicted on a charge of  attempted murder in the shooting of Tony Perry in a Washington Gardens apartment.