June 15, 1992: Supreme Court Reaffirms Legal Doctrine Underlying Rendition

The US Supreme Court reaffirms the Ker-Frisbie doctrine, which states that a US court will not concern itself over how a suspect came to stand before it for trial. The reaffirmation is part of a ruling on the case of Humberto Alvarez-Machain, a Mexican doctor allegedly involved in the kidnap and murder of a DEA agent who was rendered from Mexico by US agents without Mexico’s consent under the extradition treaty with the US (see April 1990). The Ker-Frisbie doctrine reaches back to the 19th century and states that US courts have jurisdiction over a criminal defendant regardless of the means by which that defendant was brought before the court, as a breach of general international law principles does not generally affect the jurisdiction of a domestic court. [US House of Representatives, 7/24/1992] However, Alvarez-Machain will be acquitted later by a lower court on the facts of the actual charges. [Grey, 2007, pp. 135]