Ruling Delays Artukovic Extradition Try : U.S. Told It Hasn’t Proved Accused War Criminal Is Competent

A Los Angeles federal magistrate ruled Tuesday that the U.S. government has not yet shown that 85-year-old accused war criminal Andrija Artukovic is mentally competent to face an extradition hearing.

The judgment of U.S. Magistrate Volney V. Brown, a setback for the government, came after a daylong hearing to determine the competency of Artukovic, who is wanted by the Yugoslav government for alleged complicity in the deaths of 770,000 Serbs, Gypsies and Jews during World War II.

“I cannot find on the evidence that Artukovic is competent to assist in his own defense,” Brown declared after hearing testimony from a government-appointed psychiatrist that Artukovic is capable of understanding the charges against him. Brown also heard from three defense witnesses who disputed the government contention.

Brown stopped short of dismissing the extradition request, saying that because Artukovic’s defense attorneys had been late in presenting their expert medical testimony in writing, it would not be fair to the government to rule hastily.

Personal Selection Brown said that he would personally select another psychiatrist from a panel of court-approved expert witnesses to examine Artukovic in the next two weeks. The report from the second psychiatrist is expected before a new hearing Jan. 18.

Nonetheless, Brown’s action was interpreted as a setback in the effort to extradite the former Croatian government official.

Assistant U.S. Atty. David Nimmer, prosecutor in the case, refused comment on Brown’s decision, but Chief Assistant U.S. Atty. Richard E. Drooyan said: “The longer it’s delayed, the less it will be favorable to our position. We’ll just have to wait and see now what the next step is.”

Artukovic’s son, Rad, a Los Angeles businessman, said he was delighted with the magistrate’s action.

“I’m very pleased,” he said. “I would have preferred it if the magistrate had released my father, but that doesn’t distress me. It seems he is giving very important consideration to this, and I think that is being fair to everyone concerned.”

Brown’s ruling came after testimony from Dr. Saul J. Faerstein, a court-appointed psychiatrist, that Artukovic is competent to face extradition despite occasional memory loss and periods of confusion.

Disputing the testimony of Faerstein was Dr. David Gottlieb, a psychiatrist who testified for the defense that Artukovic has organic brain damage that prevents him from being able to assist his attorneys in any kind of predictable fashion.

Gottlieb described Artukovic as a man who becomes totally disoriented and confused when he is questioned about his present circumstances.

Also testifying against the government’s extradition efforts was Dr. William Hitrec, personal physician to Artukovic, who said Artukovic suffers from a heart condition that could be fatal if he is subjected to the kind of stress that would be likely in an extradition case.

The third defense witness was former Superior Court Judge Philip Newman, described as an expert in extradition proceedings, who said that from a legal point of view Artukovic is not able to help in his defense and can’t even remember his attorney’s name.

Artukovic, a resident of Seal Beach in Orange County since 1949, has successfully resisted previous efforts by both the U.S. and Yugoslav governments to have him returned to Yugoslavia for trial on the alleged war crimes.

He has denied that he had anything to do with the deaths of the 770,000 Serbs, Gypsies and Jews who died in Nazi concentration camps in Yugoslavia during World War II.