Saipan governor inks Miura transfer

SAIPAN (Kyodo) Gov. Benigno Fitial of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands signed documents Wednesday ordering the transfer to California of Kazuyoshi Miura, who has been held on Saipan over the 1981 fatal shooting of his wife in Los Angeles.

Deliberations on the transfer of Miura, 60, were to be held within 24 hours of the signing of the documents.

Miura's defense team plans to seek a writ of habeas corpus, while in L.A., his counsel will soon seek a ruling that his arrest warrant is invalid.

His defense team insists that Miura's arrest on Saipan on Feb. 22 goes against the spirit of the law prohibiting double jeopardy, saying the warrant, issued in 1988 on murder and conspiracy charges, is invalid.