The extradition process tends to garner the most attention when a high-profile criminal is involved, but U.S. diplomatic and law enforcement officials deal with dozens of cases every year that are not so headline-grabbing, as well. As a general rule, the process begins when a state or federal prosecutor meets with the fugitive’s attorney to learn about the case and decide whether an extradition request is worth the significant costs (the requesting jurisdiction covers translation expenses). Prosecutors then prepare the request and send it to Justice Department, which reviews it for sufficiency.
If the request passes through Justice’s review, the State Department’s Office of International Affairs (OIA) will review it to ensure that there is a valid treaty in place and that the cited offenses are extraditable. OIA also conducts a review of the evidence submitted to determine if it is sufficient to establish probable cause that the fugitive committed the charged crimes.
A hearing on the probable cause determination takes place, at which the fugitive can offer counter-evidence, although it is generally not allowed to go beyond simply contradicting the evidence offered by the requesting government. The hearing is not a trial and the rules of evidence and criminal procedure that apply to trials do not apply, although the judge at the hearing may choose to allow certain witnesses to testify under oath about their personal knowledge of the facts.
If the magistrate or district court judge certifies extraditability, OIA will transmit instructions to L/LEI to arrest the fugitive and submit to the Department of State a record of the proceedings, including the judge’s certification and transcript of evidence (if any). OIA will also notify the foreign country of the fugitive’s arrest, through diplomatic channels.