N.S. man opposes extradition to U.S. over COVID-19 concerns

A Nova Scotia man is trying to avoid being sent to Minnesota to face a sex charge against a teenage girl because he is afraid of the risks posed by COVID-19.

The lawyer for Robert Charles Carroll, 57, appeared before the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal on Monday to ask the court to block an order by the federal justice minister that he be surrendered to American authorities.

Carroll lived in Minnesota from 1998 to 2008. He's accused of abusing a girl from 2003, when she was 13 years old, until 2008. She went to authorities in 2011, at which time U.S. authorities requested Carroll's extradition.

This is the second time the Court of Appeal has been asked to intervene in Carroll's case. In 2017, the court ordered the office of then Justice Minister Jodi Wilson-Raybould to review her decision to send Carroll south to face three charges.

Carroll's concerns at that time were over Minnesota's sex offender program, which allows someone who is convicted of a sex offence to be kept in custody even after they've finished their criminal sentence. The program is meant to help rehabilitate an offender.

Since then, Minnesota authorities have removed two of the three charges Carroll faced. He's now accused of criminal sexual conduct in the third degree, an offence under the state's statutes.

Carroll has a lung condition: lawyer

During Monday's arguments, the Nova Scotia court was told the most likely sentence should Carroll be found guilty would be 36 months and that would be stayed, meaning he would not go to jail.

But there's still a chance he could spend time behind bars, because of a provision for 12 months custody.

Scott McGirr, Carroll's lawyer, said that was a real concern for Carroll because he has a lung condition that would make him very vulnerable to COVID-19, should he become infected by the illness.

Last summer, the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa provided assurances about the likely sentence Carroll would face. But McGirr said those assurances came too late, because conditions in the pandemic had deteriorated, and they have only gotten worse since then with the third wave of COVID-19.

"Mr. Carroll has extricated himself from the frying pan, only to find himself in the fire," McGirr told the three-member appeal panel.

McGirr said in agreeing to Carroll's extradition, Justice Minister David Lametti failed to properly consider the risks to his client's health.

Court reserves its decision

But the lawyer for the federal government, Patricia MacPhee, said Isanti County has been very successful in dealing with COVID-19 and there have been no cases in the county jail.

She said it's important to look at the specific area and not the state of the pandemic in the entire country.

"I think it would be faulty to rely on generalities, speculation and assumptions," MacPhee said. "[Lametti] has to balance factors and can only consider best evidence available."

The judges also challenged McGirr's assertions that there was no effective treatments for the pandemic, pointing out that vaccines, masks, social distancing and hand washing have all proven effective.

The hearing itself was conducted under COVID-19 restrictions, with the lawyers and judges all appearing by video link.

The court has reserved its decision.