Gerald Markham, A/K/A J. D. Markham v. Peter J. Pitchess, Sheriff of Los Angeles County, and Kenneth C. Keller Counsel General of Canada

In 1975, petitioner Markham was arrested in Canada and charged with importation of hashish oil. Prior to trial, petitioner fled to the United States. While stopped for a traffic violation in California during 1978, the existence of a Canadian arrest warrant was discovered and extradition procedures were instituted. Markham sought habeas corpus relief pursuant to Title 28 of the United States Code, section 2241, contending that marijuana trafficking was not an extraditable offense within the meaning of the applicable treaty. Markham now appeals denial of habeas corpus relief.

The Webster-Ashburton Treaty of August 9,1842, 8 Stat. 572 (1872), as amended, 44 Stat. 2100 (1925), between the United States and Canada, provides for the extradition of persons committing “[cjrimes and offenses against the laws for the suppression of a traffic in narcotics.” In 1971 the Treaty was amended to specifically include, in the annexed schedule, marijuana-related crimes, 27 U.S.T. 983, 998, and the amendment became effective in 1976.

Markham argues that this new provision, because effected after the alleged crime, should not apply. However, extradition in Markham’s case began in 1978, well after…