A US federal judge has said he is "nowhere near" deciding whether to extradite a former religious minister to Ireland for allegedly assisting in the suicide of a Dublin woman.
US magistrate judge R Clarke VanDervort was speaking at an extradition hearing in Beckley, West Virginia, to decide the fate of George Exoo, who is wanted in the Republic for assisting in the suicide of Rosemary Toole-Gilhooley at her Donnybrook home in 2002.
Judge VanDervort indicated that it could be the end of August before he decided the case and refused to allow Mr Exoo out on bail.
If successful, the case would be the world's first extradition on an assisted suicide case, according to legal experts.
At yesterday's hearing, Mr Exoo's attorney, Edward Weis, told the court that the extradition treaty between the US and the Republic was very narrowly defined and only applied to federal offences. He argued that assisted suicide was neither a federal crime nor a crime under West Virginia law, and the extradition request should be defeated.
However, Phillip Wright, the head of the criminal division of the US attorney's office in Charleston, West Virginia, argued that the US interprets extradition treaties to accommodate crimes recognised within the US, and the majority of US states have outlawed assisted suicide.
Mr Wright went through the various classes of states that supported the Irish position, as well as the states that could be interpreted as having a similar law to that in the Republic.
Judge VanDervort said he did not anticipate being "anywhere near reaching a conclusion" within a week and asked both attorneys to submit additional information on US state law on assisted suicide.
Mr Exoo was in court for the 2½-hour hearing, as was his partner, Thomas McGurrin, and a group of supporters. Mr McGurrin was with Mr Exoo when he travelled to Ireland in 2002 for the alleged assisted suicide of Ms Toole-Gilhooley.