French Court Approves Kopp Extradition Based on U.S. Death Penalty Assurances

On June 28, 2001, a French court in Rennes recommended the extradition of James Charles Kopp, the main suspect in the murder of a New York abortion doctor, after the Bush Administration gave high-level assurances that Kopp would not face the death penalty if he was returned to the U.S. Kopp, 46, known in anti-abortion circles as “Atomic Dog,” may be able to overturn or delay the appeal up to 18 months. Kopp, one of the U.S. most-sought fugitives, evaded an international hunt for 2 ½ years after the 1998 killing of Barnett Slepian at his home in Amherst, New York, a suburb of Buffalo…[more]