Supreme Court declines to hear appeal sought in Demjanjuk case

CLEVELAND (AP) -- The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal that sought to restore the citizenship of an Ohio man the Justice Department said was a guard at Nazi concentration camps.
There is no concern John Demjanjuk, of suburban Seven Hills, will be deported soon despite the court's refusal Nov. 1 to hear the case, his attorney John Broadley said. A lower court ruling prevents the government from starting deportation proceedings until the appeals process is complete.
A separate appeal in the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati seeks to prove Demjanjuk, 84, is a victim of mistaken identity, Broadley said.
Messages seeking comment were left for U.S. Justice Department officials.
U.S. District Judge Paul R. Matia in Cleveland ruled in 2002 to strip Demjanjuk's citizenship. The 6th Circuit upheld the ruling.
Broadley said the appeal to the Supreme Court questioned whether the documents the government used against Demjanjuk in his citizenship trial were reliable enough to meet standards for evidence.
The Justice Department used World War II-era documents to prove Demjanjuk, a Ukrainian, persecuted Jews at Nazi concentration camps during the war.
The pending 6th Circuit appeal is based on a Demjanjuk signature on an identification card from a Nazi guards' training camp in Trawniki, Poland, during World War II.