Randy Quaid, wife seek refugee status in Canada

[THUNDERDUCK]

VANCOUVER – Actor Randy Quaid and his wife told Canada's immigration board Friday they are seeking refuge in Canada because they are being persecuted in the United States, after they were arrested on U.S. warrants related to vandalism charges.

The pair were arrested on Thursday afternoon in a shopping area of an affluent Vancouver neighborhood.

The Quaids are wanted in Santa Barbara, where they missed a court hearing Monday on felony vandalism charges.

Santa Barbara County Senior Deputy District Attorney Lee Carter said Friday that Quaid and his wife Evi's bail increased to $500,000 apiece.

Their attorney, Robert Sanger, said he hoped the situation could be resolved but declined comment citing the pending case.

Evi Quaid begged a Canadian immigration adjudicator not to force them to return, saying on Friday that eight friends, such as actors David Carradine and Heath Ledger, have been "murdered" under mysterious circumstances and she's worried something will happen to her husband next.

"We feel our lives are in danger," she said.

Evi Quaid said she's been told by a jail nurse that her blood pressure is dangerously high due to stress and that Randy Quaid's mother has been hospitalized in the U.S. as a result of the stress from their legal troubles.

Friday's hearing was a mandatory detention review and authorities have asked that they be kept in jail until their next hearing date Tuesday.

On Friday, the Quaids promised they would appear for their next hearing. Evi Quaid said she'd be willing to wear an ankle bracelet while staying at a posh Vancouver hotel.

Randy Quaid said they came to Canada because he was being given an award by a film critics group. He said the couple was considering moving to Vancouver where Randy planned to jump-start his career.

He said the pair believed the warrants were issued by mistake and had been withdrawn and the couple didn't travel north in an effort to skip out on them.

"I love Canada," Randy Quaid told the adjudicator.

"It's been a very welcoming nation to me. I would not do anything to besmirch my reputation."

They face no charges in Canada.

A U.S. judge issued arrest warrants Monday for the couple after they failed to show up at a California court hearing stemming from their arrests last month on suspicion of illegally squatting at a home.

Quaid and his wife face felony vandalism charges after more than $5,000 in damage was found in a guest house of a Montecito, California home they had previously owned.

The Quaids frequently missed court appearances in an earlier U.S. case involving charges they defrauded an innkeeper. That case was resolved in April with Evi Quaid pleading no contest to a misdemeanor. The charges against her husband were dropped.

Randy Quaid, 60, is best-known for supporting roles in films such as "Independence Day" and "National Lampoon's Vacation." He is the older brother of Dennis Quaid.

[pikapikapika]

 

[JFC]

UPDATE!

Quaid's wife a Canadian, so Hollywood couple released from immigration custody
By: Terri Theodore, The Canadian Press
Posted: 27/10/2010 5:16 PM

VANCOUVER - Oscar nominee Randy Quaid and his wife Evi say they weren't on the lam when they came to Vancouver last week and were arrested and are now trying to digest Evi's new status as a Canadian citizen.

Randy Quaid said in an interview with The Canadian Press that he and his wife were merely interested in buying a house in Vancouver when they came north last week.

"We looked at coming to Vancouver as basically just going across the street," Quaid said.

Added his wife: "We were coming up for a few days, we were going to check out the idea of living here and then, what I call the fraudulent group of criminals. . . ."

Her husband cut her off.

"There's issues back home that we are dealing with, we are being persecuted in some way but in some way to a very great extent, it's very terrifying," said Randy Quaid.

During a bizarre immigration hearing following their arrests last week the couple asked a Canadian immigration adjudicator for refugee status, saying they needed asylum from "Hollywood star whackers."

Evi Quaid, 47, begged a Canadian immigration adjudicator to allow them to stay, saying she feared for her 60-year-old husband's life after friends like actors David Carradine and Heath Ledger were "murdered" under mysterious circumstances.

Ledger died in January 2008 from an accidental overdose. Carradine was found dead, hanging from a rope, in a suite at a luxury Bangkok hotel. Neither actor's death was ruled suspicious.

The Quaids were picked up by Canada's border guards on outstanding U.S. warrants last Thursday as they attempted to get a mortgage.

They are wanted on felony vandalism charges after more than $5,000 in damage was found in a guest house of a Montecito, Calif., home they had previously owned.

They've been in a Canadian detention facility since, even though they had earlier been granted release with a $10,000 bond. They weren't let out until Wednesday after the Canada Border Services Agency accepted information compiled by the Quaids' new lawyer showing that Evi Quaid is the daughter of a Canadian.

During the hearing last week, Evi Quaid repeatedly said her father was a Canadian FBI agent, a claim she explained later by saying her father was a Canadian who moved to the United States and began working for the FBI.

"She's a Canadian citizen," lawyer Catherine Sas said in an interview at her office where Sas and the couple celebrated with a glass of wine.

"In the process of doing her eligibility hearing for her refugee claim, some of the information that she gave us led us to believe that she is possibly a Canadian citizen.

"We contacted her father, he forwarded us documentation that she is a Canadian citizen. So they withdrew all their proceedings and she can live here, she can work here, she's one of us."

Randy Quaid was also released Wednesday and his case is proceeding through regular immigration channels.

He said he and his wife came to Vancouver because he'd been given an award by a Vancouver film critics group.

"We saw everything, the movie trucks and newspaper articles about the burgeoning film industry, I didn't realize," he said.

"We thought well gosh this is great, maybe we should think about setting up a life here, not full-time, temporarily. We had that in our sights, we didn't even think about immigration being an issue."

It's not clear what the couple will do next.

Sas said they have "had a lot to deal with in the last few days." She said she will be in contact with the Quaids' lawyer in the United States.

"We're going to comply with the requirements of the law as they tried to do all along."

As the Quaids left their lawyer's office building, Evi noted someone ambling by, smoking a joint, not an uncommon sight in Vancouver.

"People can walk up and down the streets of Vancouver smoking pot and we're the ones to get arrested?" said Evi.

The Quaids have frequently missed court appearances in the past for a now-resolved U.S. case involving charges they defrauded an innkeeper.

They are due to appear in a Santa Barbara court next week on the felony vandalism charges and their U.S. lawyer has said he expects them to show.

The couple's U.S. lawyer Robert Sanger told a Santa Barbara court hearing on Tuesday that he had been in contact with the Quaids and expected them to be present for the next hearing Nov. 2.

Also on Wednesday, the Quaids regained custody of their dog, Doji.

Wendy Stewart, a spokeswoman with the City of Vancouver, said the two-year-old Blue Heeler was delivered to the city's animal shelter after its owners were apprehended.

Randy Quaid is best-known for supporting roles in films such as "Independence Day" and "National Lampoon's Vacation."

He was nominated for an Oscar at the age of 21 for his work with Jack Nicholson in The Last Detail (1973).

-- with files from Diana Mehta in Toronto

FULL ARTICLE LINK - http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/breakingnews/quaids-claim-for-canadian-asylum-fraught-with-problems-couple-remains-in-jail-105908483.html

[pikapikapika]

Lol it's almost like him and his wife are the christmas vacation characters, it's all i can think of

[the3rd]

its weird i just saw them in an article in vanity fair. i thought that it was all a joke. i guess i will read the article.