Nyron Erickson’s appeal to have his extradition order reversed was today denied in the High Court by Justice Richard Floyd.
This means that Erickson’s initial August 13th, 2021 order to be extradited to the United States of America will proceed as normal, unless another appeal is made, this time to the Court of Appeal.
According to the judgment handed down by Justice Floyd, the court found that “it would not be oppressive, unjust or an abuse of process for the extradition of the appellant (Erickson) to proceed.”
“For all of the reasons stated, the appeal of the decision of Senior Magistrate Tamia N. Richards, dated 30th June 2021, is hereby dismissed pursuant to s. 104(1)(c) of The Extradition Act 2003 (Overseas Territories) Order 2016,” Justice Floyd added.
The high court judge further said “It necessarily follows that the order of the Governor directing the appellant’s extradition remains in force and any companion appeal of that order is hereby dismissed pursuant to s. 109(1)(b) of the same Act.”
Seven grounds of appeal were submitted
The judgement further revealed that Erickson’s attorney submitted seven grounds of appeal, all of which were denied.
The first ground was for “Inadequate Particulars”, which claimed that the particulars supplied by the USA were inadequate for the purpose outlined in section 78 (2)(c) of the Extradition Act 2003.
The position further expressed that the particulars were also insufficient to identify relevant extraditions offences contrary to section 137 of the Act.
Erickson’s attorney also appealed on the grounds that the extradition would be a “flagrant denial of justice”, warning that his client would not receive a fair trial, which he argued is a breach of Article 6 of the European Convention of Human Rights.
The attorney also listed Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights as another grounds of appeal, stating that Erickson’s Right to Respect for Private and Family Life would be infringed once extradited.
Abuse of process and unconstitutionality of extradition in the absence of a prima facie case were also other grounds put forward by the attorney.
Why was the extradition requested?
According to the court document, the extradition request is in respect of a criminal indictment issued by a federal grand jury sitting in Saint Thomas, USVI on August 1st, 2019.
Erickson and other co-accused were charged with conspiracy to launder monetary funds from outside the USA and unlawfully transporting the funds into the USA. He and his other co-accused were also charged with “two counts of concealed bulk cash smuggling in amounts over $10,000 into the USA.”