The detention hearing for Dean Jay Fletcher, whom Tongan authorities want extradited to Tonga to stand trial for the murder of his wife, has been continued to December 1.
Fletcher appeared before the Honolulu U.S. District Court today where his request for a court appointed attorney was granted,.
The court has appointed Melinda Yamaga and the Office of the Federal Public Defender to represent him.
Electronic court records say that the defendant made an oral request for his detention hearing to be continued and this was granted by the court.
Magistrate Kenneth Mansfeld will preside at his detention hearing on Thursday.
US attorneys want Fletcher held without bail.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Larry Butrick filed last Tuesday, an 8-page “complaint for provisional arrest with a view towards extradition” of Fletcher who’s accused of murdering his wife in July.
During Fletcher’s first appearance last week the court invited briefs on the issue of extradition.
In the government’s filing, it says that the US has an extradition Treaty with Tonga which was enforced in 1966.
Court records say Fletcher had been kept at a cell at the police station in Neiafu, but had run off after a bathroom visit.
He set sail on his yacht, Sea Oak, and arrived in Pago Pago in early October.
He was escorted to Hawaii by federal marshals last Monday night and is now in custody at the Honolulu federal detention center.
