Mother of Hollywood Arson Suspect Files Papers Against Extradition

A woman whose son is accused of setting dozens of fires in Hollywood, West Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley last New Year's weekend wants a judge to suspend an extradition order and allow her to remain in the United States on "humanitarian" grounds, court papers show.

A federal judge in Los Angeles in May ordered that Dorothee Burkhart, 53, be sent back to her native Germany to face trial on a host of fraud charges.

In a petition for writ of habeas corpus filed June 27, attorneys for Burkhart argue that the German extradition request is not supported by competent evidence; that she is needed as a material witness in the arson case pending against her son; and that her return to Germany would result in persecution and her physical harm by "powerful right-wing extremists."

Those arguments were initially made before U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles F. Eick, who rejected them and approved Burkhart's extradition.

A U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment.

Eick also previously denied a request by arson suspect Harry Burkhart to suspend his mother's extradition to allow her to help in his defense in state court in his arson case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Cathy Ostiller has said that if the woman fought extradition on all fronts, it could be two years before she is put on a plane to Frankfurt, so she probably would be in custody in Los Angeles for her son's trial for at least a couple of years.

Were she to be returned to Germany before the trial, she could be brought back to testify on her son's behalf or she could do so in real time via satellite, the prosecutor said.

Dorothee Burkhart can also appeal to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to suspend her return to Germany.

Her attorney, Michael Belter, could not immediately be reached for comment.

Dorothee Burkhart describes herself as the sole link between her "autistic, mentally ill" son, Harry, and "the outside world." Her 24-year-old son faces trial on dozens of arson-related charges stemming from the series of fires that terrorized Los Angeles over four nights at the start of the year.

Her arrest pending extradition is thought to have sparked the arson rampage allegedly committed by her only child.

Dorothee Burkhart is accused in Frankfurt of subletting apartments that she did not own, failing to pay rent and security deposits on other locations, and defrauding a cosmetic surgeon out of about $10,000 for breast augmentation surgery for which she never paid, according to court papers.

A trial date has not been set for Harry Burkhart, who faces 100 felony charges related to 49 blazes set between Dec. 30 and Jan. 2. Most of the fires began in automobiles but often spread to homes in Hollywood, West Hollywood, Sherman Oaks and surrounding areas.

His bail has been set at $7.5 million.

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