The High Court has ruled that Gary Davis should be surrendered to the United States to face three conspiracy charges linked to the Silk Road online marketplace. In a judgment delivered on 12 August 2016, Mr Justice McDermott rejected Davis’s objections to extradition, including his arguments about his mental health and the conditions he might face in US custody.
The charges in the US indictment allege conspiracy to distribute narcotics, conspiracy to commit computer hacking and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The US authorities allege that Davis worked as a Silk Road site administrator known as “Libertas” from June to October 2013. These are allegations to be determined in US proceedings, not findings that Davis committed the offences.
The court found that the acts described in the warrant and supporting documents corresponded to offences under Irish law for all three counts. It also rejected Davis’s argument that the charges were duplicative, finding no basis to refuse extradition on that ground. The court said differences between Irish and US criminal procedure did not, on the evidence before it, establish a fundamental defect in the US justice system.
Davis argued that US sentencing rules could expose him to punishment for conduct beyond the charges. The court was not satisfied that extradition would breach the rule of specialty. It also rejected his submission that the alleged offences were committed wholly in Ireland and said there was no evidence of a refusal by Ireland’s Director of Public Prosecutions to prosecute.
The judgment considered conflicting medical evidence about Davis’s reported Asperger’s syndrome, depression and anxiety. The judge accepted the diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome but found the evidence did not establish a real risk of a breach of his rights if extradited. US prison officials described screening, mental health assessment and treatment procedures. The court accepted their evidence and treated it as an assurance that reasonable and necessary care would be provided during imprisonment.
The court concluded that the evidence did not establish a real risk of inhuman or degrading treatment, a breach of constitutional rights, or a disproportionate interference with Davis’s private and family life. It concluded that he should be surrendered and extradited to the United States. The supplied judgment ends with that conclusion; it does not include a separate formal order or specify a transfer date.