Rape suspect Nicholas Rossi loses appeal against extradition from Scotland to the US
American law enforcement officials claim he is a fugitive who faked his own death and fled to the UK to evade justice. Rossi has repeatedly argued he is a victim of mistaken identity and is instead an Irish orphan named Arthur Knight.
Thursday 14 December 2023 13:40, UK
Appeal judges have quashed a rape suspect's bid to avoid extradition to the United States.
Nicholas Rossi, 36, lodged an appeal after Scottish ministers rubber-stamped an order in September giving permission for him to be extradited to the US to face serious sex charges.
The order followed a long-running extradition battle in Scotland's courts in which Rossi was ruled to be a man wanted by authorities in Utah for the alleged rape of a woman in 2008.
American law enforcement officials claim he is a fugitive who faked his own death and fled to the UK to evade justice.
Rossi has repeatedly argued he is a victim of mistaken identity and is instead an Irish orphan named Arthur Knight.
Rossi first came to the attention of authorities after he became ill with COVID and was taken to Glasgow's Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in December 2021.
In November 2022, Edinburgh Sheriff Court ruled that his tattoos and fingerprints matched those of Rossi.
Rossi's appeal against the extradition order was heard at the High Court in Edinburgh last week.
Representing himself in court, Rossi moved a number of preliminary motions, including one calling for an extension to his appeal period to allow him more time to lead new evidence.
He also moved to be granted bail, and to have the court impose restrictions on the media reporting of his case.
Rossi once again argued that he was the subject of mistaken identity and objected to lawyers referring to him by that name, which drew a rebuke from Lady Dorrian due to his identity being established though earlier court proceedings.
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Lady Dorrian, sitting alongside Lord Malcolm and Lord Armstrong, also rejected each of Rossi's preliminary motions, stating it was not the High Court's place to hear fresh evidence in the case and it was also not in a position to grant bail.
Asked to provide a submission backing his appeal against extradition, Rossi said he had been previously ill-served by legal representatives and this led to him losing his earlier court case.
The judgement - ruling against Rossi's extradition appeal - was published on Thursday.
Lady Dorrian said: "We agree with the sheriff that the appellant's case is, at its core, a straightforward one.
"The evidence supporting that the appellant is Nicholas Rossi was overwhelming.
"He did not, nor does he now, produce anything which would suggest to the contrary.
"The conspiracy theories which he tendered in explanation were properly rejected.
"The sheriff carefully considered the submissions made on the appellant's behalf as to the potential barriers to his extradition.
"Having heard evidence from various medical witnesses, there was quite simply nothing to support that he was suffering from any mental health condition, far less one which would render it unjust or oppressive to extradite him.
"Moreover, there was little if any evidence to suggest that, on the hypothesis the appellant does indeed have such a condition, treatment would be unavailable in Utah."
Lady Dorrian added there was "nothing placed before the court" which demonstrated that the proceedings in the US would be unfair or violate Rossi's rights if extradited.
The court concluded that there was "no merit" in any of Rossi's arguments, ruling that his leave to appeal "must be refused".