HR0721 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0721 LRB095 13705 RLC 39425 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, On Tuesday, October 24, 2006, Dr. David Cornbleet was tortured and brutally murdered in his office located at 30 N. Michigan Ave. in Chicago; and

WHEREAS, A former patient of Dr. Cornbleet's, Hans Peterson, has confessed to committing this murder; and

WHEREAS, After committing this horrendous crime, Peterson fled to and hid in the French portion of St. Martin; and

WHEREAS, Before confessing and turning himself into French officials, Peterson applied for and was granted French citizenship merely based on his mother's nationality; and

WHEREAS, Even though he was born and raised in the United States and filled out his French citizenship application after committing the act of murder, France granted him citizenship in May of 2007 based on the fact that there is French blood in his lineage; and

WHEREAS, France claims that Peterson is protected as a French citizen by its laws and has refused extradition; and

WHEREAS, If Peterson is ever tried and convicted, under French law at most he will face 20 years in prison, what the French consider being a life sentence; and

WHEREAS, The 2002 Treaty between the United States and the French Republic merely states that "there is no obligation upon the Requested State to grant the extradition of a person who is a national of the Requested State" and does not absolutely preclude such extradition; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the French Republic to extradite Hans Peterson, an American citizen who committed a crime on American soil; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the French Republic's treatment of this case to date offends the notions of justice of this body and of the people of the State of Illinois; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the French Republic's Consul General to Chicago as an appeal by the people of the State of Illinois for France to exercise its ability to extradite under the 2002 Treaty with the United States in the interest of true justice.