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September 24, 2004, Friday Angleton still could be tried for wife's murder Pam Easton A former millionaire bookie still could be tried for his wife's fatal shooting despite a Dutch court's refusal to extradite him on that charge, a legal expert says. Robert Angleton, 55, made an initial appearance Friday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Calvin Botley, a day after Angleton was returned on separate charges from the Netherlands, where he fled in the days leading up to his murder-for-hire trial in June 2003. Botley advised Angleton he is charged with passport fraud, misuse of a passport and failure to appear, and ordered Angleton to return to court Tuesday for a detention and probable cause hearing. "I couldn't ask for bond with a straight face," Angleton's lawyer, Stanley Schneider, said. "He recognizes his situation. He is going to be in custody for a while now." Earlier this year, a Dutch court ruled double-jeopardy clauses in a 1983 Dutch-U.S. extradition treaty and European law prohibited Angleton's extradition on the murder-for-hire charge because had been exonerated of a similar charge in state court in 1998. But the court found Angleton could be returned to the United States to face a passport fraud charge for allegedly using a fake passport to get from the United States to Amsterdam and a tax charge for allegedly evading the payment of $1 million in federal excise taxes. Prosecutors said they intend to abide by the obligations of the extradition treaty and hold Angleton "fully accountable for his conduct within the boundaries prescribed by law." Schneider, however, is concerned the treaty allows the federal government to prosecute Angleton on a murder-for-hire charge 30 days after the completion of any sentence that results from his extradition. Douglas C. McNabb, who practices federal criminal law and specializes in international extradition, said Schneider has a valid concern. There is no statute of limitations on murder and the government could try Angleton on the other pending allegations and later present a new murder indictment, he said. "That would be a way perhaps the government may be able to get around the limitations on the extradition," McNabb said. Terry Clark, chief of the criminal division for the U.S. Attorney's office in Houston, said prosecutors are disappointed with some of the Dutch court's findings and currently are prevented from pursuing the murder-for-hire charge. "Of course we would if there is a way, but the law is not in that position today," Clark said. "Treaties can change. The law can change. I'm not going to predict what the law is going to be. ... We are going to proceed with what we have right now, which are serious federal offenses." Angleton could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted of either of the two misuse of a passport charges against him. If convicted, he also faces up to 10 years in prison for failure to appear and up to five years for a conspiracy to commit passport fraud charge. The murder-for-hire charge, which remains pending, is based on the killing of Angleton's wife, Doris, found shot 13 times in the family's upscale River Oaks home in April 1997. Robert Angleton and his brother, Roger, were charged with capital murder for her death. Roger Angleton killed himself in jail 10 months after the shooting, shortly before the case was set to go to trial in state court. He left behind a suicide note in which he took full responsibility for the slaying and said Robert Angleton was innocent. Robert Angleton was acquitted but a federal grand jury later named him in a three-count indictment accusing him of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, murder-for-hire and a firearms charge. Angleton said he was innocent and unsuccessfully tried in the federal courts to get the charges thrown out by claiming double jeopardy. A judge ruled federal law allows federal and state governments to try a defendant for the same crime if the act violated both federal and state laws. That ruling was upheld by an appeals court and the U.S. Supreme Court. | |