NBC4 Washington Covers Kaiser Client Grace Lourenco’s Extradition Case
Recently, NBC4 Washington spotlighted the case of Kaiser PLLC client Grace Lourenco, a 72-year-old U.S. citizen and military veteran with serious health issues facing extradition to the Philippines.
Kaiser began representing Grace in March of last year, shortly after her arrest and detention at the D.C. Correctional Treatment Facility, where she remains today. Her team is led by Kaiser lawyers William Zapf, Amelia Schmidt, Stephen Gilson and Daniel Csigirinszkij.
The case is based on an alleged assault of Grace’s then-husband more than six years ago in 2018, while they were living in the Philippines. In 2023, in the couple’s divorce case in D.C. Superior Court, a judge imposed a sizable judgment against Grace’s ex-husband, finding that he was not credible and had committed multiple intrafamily offenses against Grace. That order detailed the long history of mental, emotional, and physical abuse Grace had endured during her marriage of nearly thirty years. Her ex-husband, who now faces contempt proceedings for evading that judgment, has repeatedly sought to use the extradition proceedings to delay the divorce case and avoid complying with the judgment.
Grace’s case is now with the U.S. Department of State, which will decide whether she will be extradited to face charges in the Philippines. “In cases like this where there are very serious humanitarian concerns about our client, Grace, this is the type of case where the Secretary of State can say no and should say no,” Mr. Zapf stated in his interview with NBC4 Washington, underscoring the discretionary power of the Secretary of State in such cases.
Before and after her marriage, Grace lived in Washington, D.C., where she has close family and friends, as well as a longstanding history of service to her community. A United States Air Force veteran, Grace was stationed in Frankfurt, Germany, between 1976 and 1981, and was a member of the crew on the historic flight that returned the Iranian hostages during President Carter’s administration. Kaiser’s submission to the State Department highlighted her extraordinary personal history, her victimization at the hands of her ex-husband, as well as the life-threatening age- and health-related concerns if she is extradited.
“We appreciate the spotlight NBC4 Washington has brought to Grace’s case. We hope that the Secretary of State recognizes that to extradite Grace under these circumstances would be a grave miscarriage of justice,” said Ms. Schmidt.
Click here to watch the NBC Washington segment.
