A transgender inmate in a Maple Ridge women’s prison will not have an appeal in her extradition fight heard by the Supreme Court of Canada.
The court dismissed an application by Hayden Patterson, formerly known as Kevin Patterson, who is being held on an extradition matter to face a murder charge in the U.S.
She was arrested in Abbotsford in 2014 as a suspect in a Washington State murder.
Patterson has alleged discrimination against government officials on the basis of her gender identity, arguing she was not given “diplomatic assurances” she would be housed in a women’s facility and protected from the risk of abuse if extradited.
She applied for a judicial review of the extradition decision, which was denied at the B.C. Court of Appeal.
On Thursday morning, the Supreme Court of Canada rejected Patterson’s application for leave to appeal, and, as usual, did not provide reasons.
Patterson, 25, has also filed a human rights complaint against the B.C. government. She said a behaviour contract she signed when she was transferred into Alouette Correctional Centre for Women in Maple Ridge is discriminatory because she is subject to tougher behaviour requirements than other female prisoners.
She was arrested at an Abbotsford hotel after she and her co-accused, Christopher Shade, allegedly used shovels to bludgeon to death Patterson’s roommate, Richard Bergesen, 57, who was found dead in his home in Sammamish, Wash., on Sept. 17, 2014.
The pair then allegedly stole the victim’s credit cards and 2013 BMW 328 sedan and fled to Canada, driving under a barbed wire fence on a road north of Spokane. The two then supposedly used the stolen credit cards to go on a shopping spree in Abbotsford and host a party at a hotel.
They were arrested later that day after U.S. authorities tracked the BMW from the vehicle’s GPS device.
ncorbett@mapleridgenews.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
