Pittsburgh Business Daily

Why is extraterritoriality OK in the David Copperfield case?

I thought extraterritoriality for sex crimes only applied when the victims were kids. Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating that rape is OK for illusionists or anything like that-just curious as to how the US can charge him for something that happened in the Bahamas.

Public Comments

1. It's a dodgy legal theory. The US Att'y is claiming that because her trip to his private island began and ended in the US, and the complaint was made to the authorities in the US, where both she and he live, they have jurisdiction. There is a provision in US law for the prosecution of people who commit crimes against Americans overseas, but it generally requires that the local authorities get the 'first bite of the cherry'. In this case, though, she flew to and from the private island directly from the US, and was thus unable to contact the Bahamian police. I'm sure lack of jurisdiction will be one element of his defense, so we'll have to see what the courts say. Richard