Extradition warrant received, eluding case continues in Whitman County
The Whitman County Sherriff’s office finally received the extradition warrant Thursday morning for Moscow shooting suspect John Lee. The warrant, signed by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, approves the transfer of Lee, 29, to Latah County, where he faces three charges of first-degree murder and one charge of attempted murder.
In the warrant, Inslee left it up to the counties to determine if Whitman County should pursue a Washington felony eluding charge before turning Lee over to Idaho authorities, said Whitman County Prosecutor Denis Tracy.
John Lee
Tracy said he does plan to prosecute Lee for the eluding charge in Whitman County before extraditing him to Idaho, unless it interferes with Latah County’s case against Lee, at which point Tracy said he would extradite Lee to Moscow immediately.
Tracy has said once Lee is moved to Idaho, he will not be returned to Whitman County for the eluding charge, so it makes sense to take care of the eluding charge first.
Tracy said he would like Lee to be held accountable for his actions in Washington.
“It is literally miraculous that he is not also facing another, one or more, murder charges in this state based on his dangerous driving — his outrageously dangerous driving,” Tracy said. “And it’s just a miracle that no one else was killed here.”
At the conclusion of Lee’s eluding case, Tracy said Lee would be extradited to Idaho per Inslee’s warrant.
Tracy said every case is different in how quickly a judge delivers a sentence for a trial.
“I would expect it to happen fairly quickly,” Tracy said.
An extradition hearing is scheduled for March 6, where Tracy said the court will review the extradition warrant and officially end the formal extradition process.
There is also a readiness hearing scheduled for March 6 on the eluding charge where both the prosecution and the defense will confirm their ability to go to trial March 16.
Ryan Tarinelli can be reached at [email protected]