France OKs Extradition in Slaying Case
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COLMAR, France — A French court agreed Thursday to extradite an American to California, where he is to stand trial on charges of killing his ex-girlfriend and abandoning their toddler on a deserted street.
James Nivette’s lawyer, Dominique Bergmann, said he would appeal the decision of the court in Colmar in eastern France, where Nivette fled late last year.
Bergmann told the San Francisco Examiner he will point out that Nivette faces a sentence of life without parole if convicted, a sentence not allowed in France.
But a prosecutor in Sacramento said the maximum sentence Nivette faces is 35 years to life in prison if he is convicted of first-degree murder with use of a firearm.
Only a conviction of murder with special circumstances--such as lying in wait, kidnapping or torture--would result in a sentence of death or life in prison without parole.
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