THE PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS	Local Thursday, June 19, 1997

Extradition, says the U.S. Justice Department, never goes quickly.

And international human-rights considerations -- already cited by Einhorn's Philadelphia legal team -- carry far more weight than Americans might expect, say independent legal experts.

``He's stuck there. There's going to be all kinds of complications,'' said Philadelphia lawyer Richard D. Atkins, who handles international law and extradition cases.

Norris Gelman, who defended the absent Einhorn when he was convicted in 1993 and sentenced to life in prison, said yesterday that a French lawyer was being hired to represent Einhorn in Bordeaux, France, where he is being held.

Gelman also cleared up one lingering mystery about Einhorn's bail-skip on the eve of trial in 1981.

He said that although Beatrice Einhorn, the defendant's mother, was reported to have put up her house to guarantee the $40,000 bail, she suffered no loss.

``She did not lose her house, she didn't suffer any financial loss when he left,'' Gelman said.

Beatrice Einhorn, who lives with her other son, Stephen, in a Wyncote apartment house, answered the phone yesterday and said, ``I have no comment.'' Einhorn's father died shortly after the suspect fled to Europe in 1981.

Gelman said international lawyer Theodore Simon has arranged for a French lawyer to handle extradition, but he had no details. Simon did not return a phone call yesterday. Gelman said neither he nor Simon has talked to Einhorn.

Gelman could shed no light on another issue -- is Einhorn actually married to Annika Flodin, the Swedish woman who has lived with him for more than four years in the south of France?

``She told me they were,'' Gelman said, but he knows of no documentation ``other than her words.''

Flodin adopted Einhorn's alias of Eugene Mallon as her married name in French documents, including a driver's license. The license led investigators to the converted mill in Champagne-Mouton where Einhorn was captured Friday morning in bed, naked.

As for extradition, here's the easy part: The U.S. has 30 days from Einhorn's capture to present French authorities with an outline of charges and reasons for extradition, said Justice Department spokesman John Russell.

Those documents, being prepared by the Philadelphia district attorney's office, will go to the Department of Justice, then to the State Department, which will translate them into French and ship the package to the U.S. Embassy in Paris. The embassy's legal attache will handle the case in French courts.

The DA's office expects to wrap up all paperwork, including any revisions requested by federal authorities, by the end of next week.

And how long will it take French authorities to act? ``Probably months,'' Russell said. ``I've seen it take years.''

Einhorn was convicted -- in absentia -- in 1993 for the bludgeoning death of girlfriend Helen ``Holly'' Maddux in 1977. That was 12 years after he'd skipped bail on the eve of his murder trial, and a year after a change in Pennsylvania law permitted the trial to proceed in his absence.

Einhorn was sentenced to life in prison. That avoids one glitch, since extraditing anyone who faces the death penalty is a no-no across Europe. But convictions in absentia don't play well in France, experts said.

``The French do not like extradition requests for people tried in absentia,'' said Temple University law professor Nikos Passas. Even though Einhorn's own flight is the reason, ``the bottom line is we have an absentia case.''

There's also another X factor, Passas said: ``In many ways, everything around international law has to do with politics.'' What those political overtones might be are anyone's guess.

Atkins -- who knew Einhorn ``casually'' -- noted Strasboug, France, is headquarters for both the European Commission on Human Rights and the European Court on Human Rights.

``They have quite a bit to say about how things are done legally,'' he said.

Gelman and Simon have said they will raise human-rights issues to fight extradition.

French courts would have to make a rare exception to allow extradition for someone tried in absentia, Atkins said, and so long after the crime. The fact that Einhorn's appeal rights have been forfeited by state law because he fled would also be a major issue in France, he said.

``That could be a violation of French law and they could say it's not a final judgment. . . . because the man was not there,'' Atkins said.

``I've seen one after another case where they say we cannot extradite,'' he said. ``The French are more likely than other countries not to extradite.''

On the other hand, Atkins said even if the French rule out extradition, they probably would not want to keep a man who entered under a false passport and has been convicted of murder.

If France expels Einhorn, ``it is unlikely any other country would want to take him,'' he said.

``After everything is over and he wins the battle, he might ultimately lose the war by being put on a plane back to the United States,'' he said.

Atkins' guess is Einhorn will ultimately be brought back, but no time soon.

Philadelphia Online -- Philadelphia Daily News -- Local News Copyright Thursday, June 19, 1997