LONDON — A woman accused of killing two of her children and severely injuring another appeared in the Westminster Magistrates Court Monday afternoon to conclude an extradition hearing that was postponed citing new additional evidence in an earlier September hearing.
Kimberlee Singler faces the following charges for an incident back in December of 2023:
- murder
- attempted murder
- child abuse
The previous sessions of this extradition hearing were three days and surrounded the question of if Singler's extradition would violate, the European Convention of Human Rights. Specifically, Article 3, states: "no one shall be subjected to torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment".
Edward Fitzgerald Kings Counsel (KC) who is representing Singler argued that due to the sentencing Singler could face in Colorado should she be found guilty, there would be no possibility for parole or commutation of her sentence.
Fitzgerald who has also represented WikiLeaks Co-Founder Julian Assange argued that should Singler be extradited this violates Article 3 by extraditing her to a country where the sentence would not allow for parole or rehabilitation into society.
Our NBC partners in London are in the courtroom on Monday providing us with the latest from across the pond. The first witness called to the stand was Ms.Thompson, a legal expert determined to be an expert witness in the case who participated in earlier hearings. She was to provide evidence about the commutation of other life sentences in Colorado.
“I was wrong. I was mistaken,” Thompson said. “It’s as clear as can be that there’s no realistic probability of commutation in Miss Singler’s case,” she added in her Monday testimony.
The second witness called to the stand was David Kaplan, another expert witness, who reiterated Thomson's testimony that parole in a case like Singler's would not be realistic if she were to be extradited. Joel Smith KC, who is representing the U.S. Government, has been trying to poke holes in the position throughout the length of the hearing.
According to our NBC correspondents in the courtroom, Singler is wearing a turquoise green zip-up jacket with a purple T-shirt and neutral greyish trousers. Singler has been fairly emotionless, watching the back and forth between the lawyers in court and the witnesses appearing via videolink. She also has been looking at papers, appearing to follow along when certain documents are mentioned.
In closing arguments of the hearing, and defense for Singler, Fitzgerald said there would be no real possibility of parole for Singler if she were convicted. Fitzgerald did acknowledge there were exceptions to this but it was based on the young ages of the suspects, “If you’re not in one of these fortunate categories of young adult, you’re not even going to get to the stage of looking at rehabilitation,” said Fitzgerald.
Smith representing the United States, argued that the point of this hearing was to argue that a mechanism of release does exist in the U.S. Court system, not if it will be used. “There is a mechanism of sentence review. It does allow the governor to consider progress towards rehabilitation," said Smith to the courtroom, “Prospects of release? That’s not your concern.”
Judge John Zani summarized that Smith is arguing a “narrow” point (whether there is a mechanism in place for commutation) while Fitzgerald’s is a wider point.
Despite these closing arguments, Judge Zani did not have a decision ready Monday. A decision on extradition is expected to be handed down on January 24.
Our NBC correspondents in the courtroom asked Fitzgerald what he believed would happen in the following weeks. If the Judge ruled in favor of the defense, Fitzgerald would offer the United States a chance to provide assurances Singler would not face life without parole.
If the judge rules for extradition the defense expects to appeal to the high court.
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