Quote Originally Posted by thir View Post
A question, in view of my profound ignorance of these matters: If you are not extradited, does that automatically mean that there is not trial??
Not necessarily: I believe some countries will hold a trial even without the accused being present. The US only allows a trial without the defendant present in a few circumstances (if he misbehaves in court, he can be removed by the judge's order; if they are minor charges, the court can allow you to waive your right to be present) but in general they must at least be there in person at the start: for example, McKinnon can't be tried without being taken to the court first, it seems, but if I were charged with a traffic violation from my visit to NY, I could deal with it from here in the UK without needing to fly back there. When France tried 'Carlos the Jackal', three of his co-accused were being tried in absentia, so their laws obviously allow that to a much greater extent.

More confusion: info saying they don't, info saying they do. What is correct??
They have extradited, in dozens of cases in the last few years to my country alone, so it certainly isn't the case that the US refuses to extradite their own citizens. France and Russia do refuse, though, which may be the source of that belief. Where a country objects to the death penalty (as mine does at present, despite public pressure to reverse this stance) the US will block the death penalty to ensure the extradition can go ahead, rather than let the suspect get off entirely.