Christian Castro was released from a detention center in Brownsville on Thursday after U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. refused to order his immediate return to Minnesota. Castro, an ICE officer charged there with assault and falsely reporting a crime, had been held in Texas for 90 days.
Prosecutors say the case stems from the Jan. 14 shooting of 24-year-old Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in Minneapolis. They said Castro fired a gun through the front door of a home and shot Sosa-Celis in the leg, then falsely accused him and another man of attacking an ICE officer with a broom handle and a snow shovel.
Fernando Rodriguez Jr. Order
A Minnesota judge issued a nationwide warrant for Castro’s arrest in May, and authorities arrested him in Cameron County on May 29. Minnesota officials have sought his extradition since then, while Castro remained in custody in Brownsville until the 90-day detention period ran out under Texas law and barring extradition.
In Wednesday’s order, Rodriguez wrote, “The Court concludes that it lacks subject matter jurisdiction because the case is not ripe for adjudication,” and added, “Minnesota cannot premise its causes of action on the allegation that Governor Abbott may violate those authorities in the future; it must prove that a violation has already occurred.” The ruling left Minnesota without the immediate court order it wanted.
Keith Ellison Request
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed a request for a temporary restraining order last week, seeking to stop Castro’s release while the extradition issue moved forward. Texas attorneys argued on Tuesday that the judge could not rule on a decision that was still pending, and Rodriguez agreed the court could not intervene yet.
Texas attorneys also said Greg Abbott had not denied extradition and was waiting for the outcome of an internal state investigation. Minnesota officials believe Castro could flee to Mexico, but Thursday’s release means the extradition fight now turns back to Abbott and the state process around it.
