Overview
- Castro was freed from a Brownsville detention center after Texas law required his release once a 90-day hold expired on Thursday and Gov. Greg Abbott declined to sign extradition papers.
- The Department of Homeland Security suspended Castro without pay and said the U.S. Attorney’s Office is investigating possible false statements by the officer.
- Minnesota charged Castro in May with four felony assault counts and a misdemeanor for falsely reporting a crime over a Jan. 14 shooting in Minneapolis that wounded Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis.
- Minnesota prosecutors say surveillance video, witness statements, medical records and physical evidence contradict Castro’s account, while Texas has questioned whether he qualifies as a ‘fugitive’ under the Constitution.
- A federal judge recently refused to force Abbott to act, leaving the interstate dispute unresolved and raising questions about extradition practice, state detention limits and the risk that the defendant could leave the country.