Extradition Hearing Set for Kidnaping Suspect : Crime: Timothy Daniel Shue will have a chance today to challenge efforts to bring him to California to face charges in the assault of a Val Verde real estate agent.

A man suspected of kidnaping and sexually assaulting a Val Verde real estate agent is likely to be transferred from Utah, where he was apprehended, to Los Angeles to face federal charges, authorities said Thursday.

Timothy Daniel Shue, 38, will appear in federal court in Salt Lake City today where he will have the opportunity to challenge efforts to extradite him to California, said his court-appointed attorney, Reid Lambert.

If Shue resists, prosecutors seeking extradition would have to convince a federal judge or grand jury that there is probable cause he committed the kidnaping.

Lambert, who had not met with Shue as of Thursday afternoon, was not optimistic his client would prevail in an extradition hearing.

“I anticipate one way or another he’ll be back in California,” Lambert said.

Shue, a resident of Cadillac, Mich., faces life in prison without parole if convicted of kidnaping Paula Harrington, 26, from Val Verde on June 29 by posing as a prospective home buyer, said Assistant U.S. Atty. Debra Yang in Los Angeles.

Harrington was found tied up in a motel room three days later in Gila Bend, Ariz., a small town 68 miles southwest of Phoenix.

Shue is the suspect in several similar cases, including the kidnaping, rape and robbery of at least four women in the Midwest this year. He is also the suspect in an assault on a Medford, Ore., woman on June 23.

Federal officials want Shue brought to Los Angeles for prosecution because the alleged abduction of Harrington “is the most recent episode on his part as far as the witnesses and evidence,” Yang said. “For us it’s all fresh.”

Prosecutors said that although extradition to California is likely, its not guaranteed because Shue faces federal charges for fraud and unlawful flight in Michigan. Several state and county law enforcement agencies also intend to pursue charges against him.

“It’s going to be one of those situations where he may well go from jurisdiction to jurisdiction,” said Assistant U.S. Atty. Paul Warner.

If a federal judge orders the extradition and Shue does not challenge the ruling, he could be brought to California by next week, Yang said.

Shue was arrested about 2 a.m. Wednesday when he allegedly displayed a handgun to a dancer in a topless club in Ogden, Utah, said FBI spokesman Jack Callahan.

He was paroled from a Michigan state prison in July, 1993, following a conviction for armed robbery.