The medical records of a Wicklow man fighting extradition to the US on the grounds that he has depression and Asperger’s syndrome contain no mention of the conditions until the day of his arrest.
Gary Davis, 27, is wanted by US authorities for his alleged role as an administrator on Silk Road, an online black market that allowed users to anonymously buy drugs and other contraband.
His opposition to extradition includes claims that he will not receive the treatment he needs for his conditions while awaiting trial in the US.
“The first mention of any depressive incident, mental disorder or Asperger’s syndrome is the very same day as he was arrested and released on bail,” Remy Farrell, SC, who is representing the Attorney General, said in the High Court yesterday.
Mr Farrell said that he had asked for medical and educational records months ago but his office only received the medical files, which are dated as having been printed out in September, after the close of business on Monday.
Advertisement
John O’Kelly, SC, who is representing Mr Davis, said the reason for the delay was due to his client changing his email address. He said the security system on the computers of Mr Davis’ solicitors did not recognise his new address and so marked it as spam.
Mr O’Kelly said the reason no educational records were submitted was because they had been lost when Mr Davis’ former school began keeping digital files. He said Mr Davis was trying to get them himself and was having difficulty obtaining them.
Mr Justice Paul McDermott, the judge hearing the case, had ordered the documents in July as they were mentioned in the contradicting testimony of two medical experts who had interviewed Mr Davis about his conditions.
Mr Davis’ counsel said at the time that Mr Davis’ family had a history of depression and other family members were suspected of having Asperger’s syndrome.
An indictment filed by the FBI in December 2013, alleged that Mr Davis, under the name “Libertas”, was employed by Ross Ulbricht, who was sentenced to life without parole in May in a New York court for his role in creating and running Silk Road.
Advertisement
Mr Davis is alleged to have been working as an administrator on the site, dealing with queries from users and organising items for sale into categories.
A breakdown of expenses on Ulbricht’s computer used as evidence in his trial show “Libertas” was paid $1,500 a week in Bitcoin, an untraceable electronic currency used online.
A copy of Mr Davis’ passport was also found on Ulbricht’s computer. Mr Davis said he does not know how it got there and the only places he sent scans to were Bitcoin exchanges.
In July, Mr Davis said that €180,000 worth of Bitcoin, stored on electronic wallets, found by gardai when his house was raided was from his own trading and investments in the currency.
He said he became obsessed with the cryptocurrency in November 2011 and spent much of his time trading on three online exchanges.
Advertisement
Mr Davis’ case will continue on December 1.