Swarner v. State

In Evans v. State, 820 P.2d 1098 (Alaska App.1991), this Court confronted a case very much like Swarner’s. The State of Montana sought extradition of the defendant, and Montana’s request was based on an information supported by an affidavit. The problem was that this supporting affidavit was sworn to before a notary public rather than a judicial officer.

The defendant in Evans claimed that Alaska law — specifically, AS 12.70.020(a) — required that the supporting affidavit be sworn to before a magistrate.1 We rejected this argument as a misreading of the statute; we held that when an…