Susan smiled. That was how she had always felt about him, too. “Jim did say that you went on a date once,” she said.
“A date?”
“Yes, to an antique store or something.”
“That wasn’t a date!”
“Well, Jim doesn’t go out alone with girls, and you two were alone. To him it was a date.”
Amy was shocked. She didn’t know what to say. Susan drew the engagement ring out of her pocket.
“Jim asked me, Amy, to ask you to marry him.”
Amy started to cry. Susan did too. “You can tell him to ask me in person when I see him in France.”
It was all too much. But miracles happen, right? Maybe Amy would get better, and Jim would get out of jail, and—and they could get married, maybe even live in France. But Amy was dying, they had no future, did they?
Susan, Amy, and Susan’s daughter flew to France and visited Jim in the Rennes prison. They met as a group, then Amy and Jim met privately. The women left the jail and walked outside its walls to a specific spot Jim had told them about. Just stand there and listen, he had said. It was dark. They could barely hear, but were sure they could make something out.
God bless him. He was singing hymns.
Susan felt Jim had a beautiful voice. Not everyone was a fan— his singing drove his cellmates crazy. He had shared a cell with a Brit who was being extradited. They got along at first, but after a while he asked to be moved because Kopp sang his hymns, loudly, at three or four o’clock in morning. Amy made one last visit to see Jim. He did not propose to her. She asked him not to. She did not have much time to live, she was certain of that. Before they said goodbye, Jim elicited a promise from Amy. They would not tell anyone about their relationship, or what was said in private. They would take the secret with them to the grave.
Rennes, France
Tuesday, May 8, 2001
On May 8, the U.S. Justice Department formally submitted a request to the French government for the extradition of James Charles Kopp. A deadline was set for the end of the month for the French courts to decide the matter. Under the extradition treaty between the two countries, no one arrested in France for a crime committed in the United States could face a penalty harsher than a convict would face in France. As the deadline neared, American officials speaking for Attorney General John Ashcroft insisted that the death penalty remain an option should Kopp be found guilty of murder. This, even though the European Court of Human Rights had previously ruled that no individual could be extradited from any European country without a guarantee that capital punishment be taken off the table. The French Court of Appeal in Rennes would make the final decision on the matter.
Hervé Rouzaud–Le Boeuf considered the situation an intriguing one. His client had broken no French law. Perhaps he might be charged with illegal entry to the country, using a false passport and so on. Perhaps. Might get a couple of months in jail. After that? If the extradition failed, Mr. Kopp could stay in France or go elsewhere. No Western European country would send him back to the United States to face the death penalty. He could remain in legal limbo indefinitely.
Hervé Rouzaud–Le Boeuf faced something of a dilemma. On the one hand he could hope that Ashcroft would agree to drop the death penalty. But that would mean extradition and a murder trial for his client, a possible life sentence. On the other hand, maybe it would be better if there was no deal at all. Then French justice would determine Kopp’s fate. Rouzaud–Le Boeuf had many long talks with his client. The American was an engaging man, highly intelligent, but could be volatile at times, unpredictable. He talked of his family, his father. He told a fantastic story of how he ended up in France: he had learned that the Archbishop in Ireland was a homosexual, had started telling others about the fact, and some clergy urged Kopp to get out of the country. Yes, in their early conversations, Mr. Kopp seemed quite agitated, at times unbalanced.
The day neared when the Court of Appeal in Rennes would make its extradition decision. Rouzaud–Le Boeuf received a phone call. He should appear in court immediately. There he was handed the faxed letter. It was from the U.S. embassy in Paris. The Americans would not seek the death penalty for James Charles Kopp. Rouzaud–Le Boeuf smiled. His client was going to live. Of course, the Americans had little choice. They could not risk losing Kopp altogether. And, if Kopp was innocent, as his lawyer strongly believed, then he would be ultimately acquitted. How might Kopp fare in New York? He had retained a high-profile Buffalo defense lawyer named Paul Cambria. He would of course still need to navigate the American legal system and its sideshows—the media frenzy, the money, courtroom histrionics, plea bargains. In America, Rouzaud–Le Boeuf reflected, innocent men sometimes end up in prison, admit to crimes they did not commit.
There was something else that worried him. There was a signature missing on the letter from the U.S. embassy—Ashcroft’s. It should be there, he thought. This was an important case, shouldn’t the attorney general himself make the decision? Now, on the other hand, it was unthinkable that top American officials would renege on such a promise. It would be a gross violation of international law. But there was still that risk, however small. On June 7, Rouzaud–Le Boeuf got what he was looking for—a public statement from Ashcroft on the extradition agreement:
James Charles Kopp committed a heinous crime that deserves severe punishment. We need to send a strong message that, no matter what our differences are, violence is not the solution. The FACE laws were created to ensure that violence against individuals providing legally available health services is not tolerated and will carry a stiff penalty, and I intend to enforce those laws. Shortly after the arrest, the French government, pursuant to its law and practice, asked the United States to assure it that the death penalty will not be imposed or carried out. Nevertheless, I have been working to ensure the United States’ ability to pursue strong punishment for this terrible crime. I wanted to make sure that our nation would not be constrained by limits placed on Kopp’s extradition by France, preventing us from seeking punishment outlined by our laws and our Constitution, such as the death penalty. Unfortunately, in order to ensure that Kopp is not released from custody and is brought to justice in America, we have had to agree not to seek the death penalty. I share the sentiments of Dr. Slepian’s widow, Lynne Slepian, that if the choice is between extraditing Kopp to face these serious charges in a United States court or risking his release by France, the priority must be Kopp’s return.
On June 28, the Court of Appeals in Rennes ruled that Kopp should be extradited to the United States for trial. But to Jim the game was just beginning. He was a lawyer’s son, after all. He decided to challenge the court’s decision. If he could delay his return, all the better. And if the ruling was by some chance overturned, he could remain in Europe indefinitely. As for the death penalty, he didn’t trust any of them back home, not even the pro-life conservative Ashcroft, whose hands were surely tied on the matter. The abortion industry was bigger than any one man. They all wanted him to suffer. The Edgars were no doubt putting the full-court press on anyone he had ever known or loved back home, he thought. No, once the Americans got him back home, all bets were off. He was certain “The Government” would never cease trying to make an example of him. And that meant that a lethal injection might still await James C. Kopp.
Rennes, France
Spring 2001
As Jim Kopp waited for the appeal court to rule, he wrote letters to family and friends. Now was his chance to explain the last two and a half years. Jim was certain the FBI had given his brother, Walter, who still lived in California, a rough ride. In his mind’s eye he could see the men in dark suits and sunglasses hounding his twin brother. “Yeah, uh, gee, Walt, we think you oughta cooperate—seems we found this stuff called DNA at the murder scene. James Kopp’s DNA. Couldn’t be anyone else’s DNA. Well, unless of course the killer had a twin. You reading us here, partner? Jail is not a pleasant place to be, Walt…”