From Judge James Donato's opinion Wednesday in In the Matter of the Request Extradition of Artt (N.D. Cal.):
In 1992, the United States, at the request of the United Kingdom, initiated extradition proceedings in this District against Kevin John Barry Artt and other individuals who had escaped from a prison in Northern Ireland after convictions for acts of violence. The United Kingdom eventually dropped the extradition request, and Artt appears to have remained in the United States. The extradition case was presided over by District Judge Charles Legge, who retired from the bench in 2001.
Dan Lawton was an attorney who represented Artt in immigration matters in the 1990s. In February 2024, Lawton filed a request to unseal and obtain documents submitted by the United States in 1995 for in camera review by Judge Legge in connection with a discovery dispute in the extradition case. The documents concerned an investigation by the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) into the shooting of Peter Heathwood in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1979. Based on personal research, Lawton believes that Heathwood was shot by "mistaken identity" when "Loyalist paramilitaries" broke into his house to "assassinate" Artt, who rented a room there. Lawton wants access to the RUC investigation documents because he thinks they will evidence a Loyalist plot against Artt and "regards Mr. Heathwood as a friend who deserves to know why what happened to him, happened to him." Lawton says that he "withdrew completely" from representation of Artt in 2000, and that he does not represent Heathwood.
The United States opposed Lawton's request. The United States represents that the government of Northern Ireland also opposes the request. The United States represents that Artt does not object to allowing access to the investigation documents, but asks that other materials about "stops, encounters, and sightings" of Artt by United Kingdom law enforcement personnel not be disclosed.
