this rates high on the WTF meter

[Crackpot]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101023/ap_ ... andy_quaid

Quaid, wife seek refuge in Canada after arrest

1 min ago

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He said the pair believed the warrants were issued by mistake and had been withdrawn and the couple didn't travel north in an effort to skip out on them.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

[Lord Jim]

I read the story about the squatting last month; I was amused by the fact that it was exactly the sort of behavior one would have expected from the redneck grifter character he played in the "Vacation" movies...

His career, (which has never been any great shakes...his brother has been much more successful...It's always struck me as odd that they're brothers; they don't look anything alike) has obviously not been on an upward trajectory...

He also seems to have a wife with a mental problem...

Kinda sad case, really.

[Crackpot]

actually Randy seems to get work much more regularly. Dennis seems more choosy.

[rubato]

He had a great performance in "The Last Detail". An academy award nomination.

Sounds like he's cracked up.

yrs,
rubato

[Crackpot]

Actually the impression I got when this whole affair started is that his wife is mentally unstable and he doesn't know how to properly handle it. In other words he sees love as supporting her lunacy.

[Lord Jim]

Dennis Quaid starred in one of my favorite modern, (as opposed to classic) films..."Frequency".....

A science fiction movie, a really good suspense thriller, and a "feel good family film" all rolled into one...

A very underrated flick....

I also thought his Doc Holiday was way better than Val Kilmer's....

[loCAtek]

On the lamb again;


Randy Quaid and his Wife miss court; skip bail; do not pass go and do not collect $200

[darkblack]

Another example of the hardcore criminal element so beloved of liberal Hollywood types fleeing to socialism's breast at the first second 14th sign of trouble.

Canada, coddling the jetsam of fame since 1867.

[Lord Jim]

On the lamb again;

Well they won't get far on a lamb....

They should have gone on an alapaca...

I understand those suckers can move....

[Crackpot]

And they taste great!

[oldr_n_wsr]

And don't they have really nice fur?

[Joe Guy]

And they taste great!

Less filling!

[Scooter]

Update, this just gets more bizarre

VANCOUVER—Award-winning actor Randy Quaid says Canada’s refugee system has saved him from certain death at the hands of those he and his wife have called “Hollywood star whackers.”

Quaid and his wife Evi are seeking refuge in Canada, but while most refugee hearings are conducted behind closed doors to protect the identity and history of claimants, the Quaids’ appearances continue to be marked by paparazzi frenzy and conspiracy theories.

It could go on for a while, a Vancouver lawyer said, noting the case is complicated.

On Tuesday morning, Quaid stepped out of a blue Toyota Hybrid, dressed in a grey suit.

He paused on the steps of the Immigration and Refugee Board and contemplated how to respond when asked how he was feeling.

Staring into the cameras as he buttoned his two-piece suit, he sighed, and said: “I feel good. If it wasn’t for Canada’s refugee laws my wife and I would be dead.”

Quaid is hoping to convince the board that he and his wife are targeted by Hollywood killers — the Quaids have called them “star whackers” — and thereby accomplish what no other American has ever done in Canada: Gain refugee status.

Randy and Evi were arrested in Vancouver in October on an outstanding warrant in the United States, where they face felony vandalism charges.

They immediately applied for refugee status, but Evi later dropped her claim after her lawyer discovered she is eligible for Canadian citizenship because her father was a Canadian. Her father’s status doesn’t automatically make Evi Quaid a Canadian, though she has filed a claim for citizenship.

Phil Rankin, a high-profile Vancouver defence lawyer who has dealt with many immigration cases, said a treaty between Canada and the United States could see Evi extradited in the vandalism charges.

But he said the process is far too complex for what he calls frivolous charges, referring to the vandalism accusations.

“She can be deported to the United States even if she is a Canadian citizen, but it wouldn’t be under the immigration laws but the extradition laws between the U.S. and Canada,” said Rankin, who is not involved in the case.

Rankin said the U.S. would have to formally request extradition and the Supreme Court in B.C. would have to grant an order before Evi could be sent back.

The chances of Randy Quaid remaining in Canada are more murky.

Evi Quaid has not made it clear if she will sponsor her husband of 20 years if her citizenship is granted, but Rankin said even if she does, the criminal charges in the United States are still hanging over his head.

“If he is charged or convicted in the U.S., he could still be considered inadmissible for sponsorship. Just because he is the husband of a Canadian doesn’t mean he automatically gets citizenship,” Rankin said.

Randy Quaid is going through two hearings at the immigration board.

The first is to determine his refugee claim and the second is to determine whether he is admissible to Canada. At that hearing, immigration officials have submitted voluminous evidence of his alleged criminality in the United States. If found inadmissible, he faces deportation back to the United States.

His admissibility hearing has been postponed to Dec. 22.

In the meantime, Evi and Randy say they feel safe in Canada, which they believe is out of their would-be killers’ reach.

[Lord Jim]

I think what you've got here is a rather sad case of two people enabling each other in a decline into deeper and deeper mental illness....neither one of them apparently has a sufficient grasp on reality to say to the other one, "Dude....that's just nuts"

The both probably belong in a hospital where they could receive therapy and evaluation for possible anti psychotic medication.

So long as they're out running around, they're only going to get worse, and it's just a matter of time before they fall afoul of Canadian law....

[loCAtek]

How can refugee status seriously be considered by the Canadians? Have these mysterious 'star whackers' been identified? What evidence do the Quaids have they are being stalked by 'killers'? If the Quaids really thought they were in danger why didn't they go once to the police?
Obviously, what they dread is incarceration, the pattern of behavior demonstrates that.

Where will they flee next, Bermuda?