John Kirk in ‘tank’ with 30 and TV

Press, 4 July 1985, Page 3

John Kirk in ‘tank’ with 30 and TV

NZPA staff correspondent Washington The former member of Parliament for Sydenham, John Kirk, refused bail yesterday, is in a maximum security prison in Dallas, Texas, but one which is airconditioned and with colour television available. He is waiting there for an extradition hearing, expected in about a month, at which New Zealand will seek his return to face prosecution for violating bankruptcy laws by taking more than $29,000 out of New Zealand in cash, traveller’s cheques, and gold krugerrands. Law-enforcement authorities in Dallas insist that their New Zealand counterparts are treating the case as a purely police matter, and are not taking direction from the Government, although the extradition proceedings are handled on a Government to Government basis under the extradition treaty between the two countries. An assistant attorney, Mr Bill Alexander, said yesterday that Mr Kirk told him he refused breakfast at the central-Dallas, high-rise jail, but that he found lunch and dinner “acceptable.” The meals cost the authorities an average 75 United States cents each. Breakfast is usually fruit juice, coffee, rolls, and sometimes fruit. Lunch and dinner usually consist of two vegetables and a cheap cut of meat such as chicken, mince in one form or another, or hotdog sausages.

Daytime temperatures in Dallas are about 32deg. Mr Kirk is in a “general tank” with about 30 other prisoners.

The prison has a colour television set for each “tank,” and those like Mr Kirk who are not assigned jobs tend to spend a lot of time watching television, paid for from the sale of snacks. Mr Kirk’s wife Yvonne, who took the witness-stand to confirm that her husband was the man named in the warrants, told the Court that she was working but did not specify her job. She was reported by a local newspaper recently to have been working as a temporary secretary in Dallas, and she told the magistrate, Mr John Tolle, that the most she would be able to raise from a)l sources for bail would be SUS2SOO ($5200). Mr Tolle refused bail because there is no provision for it in extradition cases. The Kirks left New Zea-

land for the United States in July last year, shortly before the General Election. They went first to Los Angeles, California, where they lived in the affluent suburb of Costa Mesa. United States customs agents interviewed Mr Kirk in Los Angeles — to which agents he surrendered gold krugerrands, airline tickets, and pocket watches — and so did New Zealand Detective Inspector Bill Bishop, who flew over in November. Mrs Kirk said in Court yesterday that customs agents had not realised her husband was being sought by the New Zealand authorities for some months after their arrival in California, but that Inspector Bishop had told them in November of the charges pending and suggested they return to New Zealand to face them. The couple moved instead to Dallas, where Mr Kirk got a job selling memberships in singles clubs. A Dallas-based reporter who tried to interview Mr Kirk’s employer there had

the telephone slammed in her ear with the comment, “I don't want to hear anything more about this John Kirk.” In a complaint sealed by a magistrate, the United States Attorney’s office said it knew where Mr Kirk would be at 10 a.m. on June 19 but not thereafter, and that Mr Kirk was likely to flee if he learned of the request for his extradition. At that time, on that date, Mr Kirk had an appointment with a Dallas real estate lawyer, Robert Muchmore, to sign an affidavit under oath for the return of the krugerrands, airline tickets and pocket watches he had surrendered to the United States customs. He signed the affidavit, the customs agent walked out, and F. 8.1. agents walked in. Mr Kirk was arrested, they said, “without resistance." Mr Muchmore, who has no experience in extradition law, was replaced at yesterday’s hearing by a Dallas lawyer, Michael Gibson. He argued that Mr Kirk should be allowed bail because he had no previous criminal record and was willing to return to New Zealand voluntarily and surrender to the authorities there. The next step is a hearing in New Zealand on July 12 preparatory to a fullfledged extradition hearing in Dallas which must be held by August 3, according to Mr Bill Alexander, although Mr Gibson claimed in court yesterday the process could take as long as 120 days.