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HomeNewsLocal newsGrandmother Freed Pending Extradition in Custody Case

Grandmother Freed Pending Extradition in Custody Case

Barbara Francis (VIPD photo)
Barbara Francis (VIPD photo)

A St. Thomas woman is free on an unsecured bond in a puzzling case where she was arrested and jailed, but no criminal charges were filed for five days. Barbara Francis, 65, made an appearance before a judge in Superior Court Wednesday.

Francis was arrested Saturday at the Cyril King Airport as she returned from a trip to Florida. A spokesperson for the Virgin Islands Police Department said at the time, the woman was charged with false imprisonment and interfering with the custody of a child. But as of Wednesday afternoon, there was no supporting documents filed with the court.

Neither were criminal charges filed in U.S. District Court, as would be the case after Francis was arrested by U.S. marshals as she arrived at the airport, carrying an infant.

According to testimony heard at an extradition hearing before Superior Court Judge Kathleen Mackay, the infant is Francis’ grandchild. Defense attorney Robert King told the court he did not want to discuss the particulars of the case, but Mackay said the court acknowledged that Francis went to Florida “to help her daughter who was pregnant at the time and was having some difficulty.”

Later, on the witness stand, another daughter — Shanece Francis — acknowledged receiving a call from the Florida funeral home that handled her sister’s remains.

Defense attorney Robert King said he did not want to discuss the particulars of the case but was willing to comply with an extradition order from Gov. Albert Bryan if the Virgin Islands chief executive decides to do so.

Mackay told Francis that she, as the judge, was there to advise her about the extradition process. At the time the order in question was signed by Florida governor Ron deSantis.

The Florida governor demanded the grandmother’s return to face charges of false imprisonment of a minor under the age of 13 and interfering with the custody of a child.

It was now up to Bryan to take the next step, the judge said. She told Francis the governor would receive the order from deSantis.

“You have the right to require that the governor of Florida issue a warrant to the governor of the Virgin Islands, requesting your extradition. You have the right to have the governor of the Virgin Islands determine whether the warrant was justified,” Mackay said.

If so, then Bryan would issue an extradition order of his own, directing that Francis be sent to face charges in Florida.

What the court would not do at the Wednesday hearing, she said, is address any pending criminal charges.

“The matter about whether you are guilty or innocent regarding the charges Florida has brought against you,” the judge said.

But the apparent problem that left Francis sitting in jail for five days came not from declining to discuss the pending matter, but failing to file corresponding paperwork. For that reason, King said, he filed an emergency bail motion as part of Wednesday’s proceedings.

King said a five day detention for his client raised questions as to, “whether there is something so fundamentally wrong with the process.”

Justice Department spokesperson Corliss Smithen said whether charges are filed or not, extradition is a civil proceeding. “An extradition hearing is civil, even if it arises from a criminal case,” Smithen said.

Assistant Attorney General Natasha Baker said the officers who arrested Francis showed up at the Superior Court Magistrate’s Division on Monday, ready to testify at a preliminary hearing. But when they arrived in court, she said, they found their defendant’s case was not on the docket.

Mackay said her hands were tied. If Justice did not forward any paperwork to the court, there was nothing before the court to act on, she said.

It is customary in cases involving arrest, authorities are directed to bring the subject before a magistrate within 48 hours. A press release issued by Virgin Islands Police Department spokesman Glen Dratte on Monday stated that Francis was, in fact, arrested on Saturday.

Baker told Mackay she did not understand why the case was not heard on Monday as a probable cause matter.

Marshals also took custody of a one month old infant Francis was carrying.

“The child is in the hands of the Department of Human Services,” Dratte said after the Wednesday hearing.

By the end of the hearing, Francis was released on $30,000 unsecured bail to a relative who agreed to act as a third party custodian. King said his client is willing to comply with the extradition if the governor agrees with the reasons deSantis issued the order and responds by signing an extradition order of his own for the defendant to return to Florida.

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