Quaids released from detention

Actor Randy Quaid and his wife Evi have been released from a detention centre after she was declared a Canadian citizen, border officials said.

The Quaids were arrested last Thursday in a shopping area of a posh Vancouver, British Columbia, neighbourhood and were jailed on outstanding US warrants related to vandalism charges.

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

The Canada Border Services Agency said Evi Quaid was a citizen of Canada.

The pair had appeared at an immigration hearing in which they requested refugee status based on their belief that they were being persecuted by "Hollywood star whackers", as they put it, and that their lives were in danger.

During the hearing, 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.

Catherine Sas, the Quaids' new lawyer, said Evi Quaid could live and work in Canada and border officials had withdrawn their proceedings.

As for Randy Quaid, the border services agency would only say that he was no longer in detention and his case would be proceeding through immigration channels.

The couple had been due to appear at a refugee board hearing in Vancouver today. They were told last week they could be released from detention if they posted a CAD$10,000 (€7,059), but the pair remained in custody.

Refugee claimants can be detained if officials suspect they will not appear for their hearings.

The Quaids have frequently missed court appearances in the past for a now-resolved US case involving claims that they defrauded an innkeeper.

The Quaids are due to appear in a Santa Barbara court next week on felony vandalism charges and their US lawyer has said he expects them to appear.

After a court hearing in Santa Barbara on Tuesday, senior deputy district attorney Lee Carter made it clear that the US warrants for the Quaids remained outstanding.

The couple's US lawyer, Robert Sanger, told the court he had been in contact with the Quaids and expected them to be present for the hearing on November 2.

Quaid and his wife were charged after more than $4,500 (€3,257) of damage was found in a guest house of a Montecito, California, home they had previously owned.

Last week, Evi Quaid, 47, begged a Canadian immigration adjudicator to allow the couple to stay in Canada, saying she feared for her 60-year-old husband's life after some of their friends, like actors David Carradine and Heath Ledger, had been "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.

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

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