Mexico Extradition Request Rejected

A U.S. magistrate rejected Mexico’s request to extradite its former deputy attorney general, saying Thursday that witness statements against him had been obtained by torture.

Mario Ruiz Massieu is wanted in Mexico on charges he obstructed the probe into the assassination of his own brother, Mexico’s former No. 2 official.

But Magistrate Ronald J. Hedges said prosecutors had failed to make their case.

Ruiz Massieu, 44, smiled widely and hugged his lawyer and family before he was led away in shackles. He still faces a July 31 extradition hearing on embezzlement charges filed at the request of the Mexican government.