McNabb in the News (4-11-06)

Senior Principal Douglas McNabb is quoted in an article in the Australian covering Hew Raymond Griffiths, who we discussed in September.

If he is extradited, Mr Griffiths faces an almost immediate trial, the so-called "rocket docket" that would have him go to trial within 60 days, and a highly conservative court.

Juries in northern Virginia, a dormitory community of Washington DC, are drawn from a population, sprinkled with US federal government employees and military personnel.

"That is one of the most conservative federal districts in the US," said Douglas McNabb, principal of McNabb Associates, a Washington law firm specialising in high-profile fraud and national security cases.

"That means in practice the juries there are incredibly conservative."

The process is also phenomenally expensive. While in Australia Mr Griffiths has had some of Australia's top barristers courtesy of their goodwill and legal aid, in the US strong representation would cost him at least $US50,000 ($70,000).

Mr McNabb said federal authorities "don't care" where an offence is committed, and had cast a wide extradition net.

If Mr Griffiths was extradited he would have difficulty navigating the complex US justice and penal system.

"The US Marshals will come and get him and he will be handcuffed and chained at the waist for security reasons," said Mr McNabb.

"When he gets to the States he will be placed in very constrained detention facilities. He'll get a bail hearing, and he'll lose it because he'll be considered a flight risk."

US authorities were likely to take into account time already served on remand in Australia, but that decision would ultimately rest with the US Bureau of Prisons rather than the court.^[1]

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[1] Simon Hayes, Bandido Suspect in Minister’s Hands, The Australian, Apr. 11, 2006.