An Aberdeen man wanted over the shooting of a security guard in Texas cannot be extradited to America because it might violate his human rights, a Scottish judge has ruled.
Former Dyce Academy pupil Daniel Magee fled the USA after a security guard was wounded during a shooting incident at a frat party near the University of Texas in Austin.
Magee was 19 when he was charged with assault with a deadly weapon after allegedly opening fire at the man in 2016.
But he skipped bail and returned to the Granite City, where his family are understood to live in Dyce, and hasn’t been back since.
He had originally fled the scene of the shooting but was later tracked down by Texan police.
When officers searched his car and home, they found an AK47 assault rifle and a .40-caliber handgun, although it is understood the weapons were not used in the incident.
Magee had been released from custody on a $50,000 (£38,000) bail.
Scottish legal representatives for Mr Magee argued against his extradition at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last year, although the proceedings went unreported at the time.
‘A real risk’
The judgment, which refused the Texan authorities’ extradition request, was not published after the hearing.
Magee’s barrister, Fred Mackintosh QC presented evidence that “gave rise to substantial grounds for believing that prisoners in the Texan state prison system face a real risk of being subjected to treatment contrary to Article 3” of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The section of that legislation guarantees freedom from torture and inhuman or degrading treatment.
Lawyers for Daniel Magee instructed a distinguished senior lecturer at the University of Texas to act as an expert witness.
The researcher was asked to provide expert testimony on the current conditions of confinement in Texas prisons, and how defendant Daniel Magee might be affected by those conditions.
He faced a sentence of up to 99 years or life imprisonment under Texas law, with no eligibility for parole until at least half his sentence was served.
Ms Deitch’s considerations included:
- Conditions for Texan prisoners
- Out of cell time
- Access to food and hygiene amenities
- Visitation
- Violence
- The impact of Covid
‘Serious concerns’
Michele Deitch reached the expert opinion that “conditions and practices in the Texas prison system violate Articles 2 and 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, as well as numerous international human rights standards”.
She had “serious concerns” that incarceration in Texas may deny Magee his right to life and ignore legislation covering the prohibition of torture.
Ms Deitch concluded: “Should Mr Magee be extradited to Texas, he would certainly be subjected, as a routine matter, to cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment as defined under these international human rights instruments.
“The conditions under which Mr Magee would be detained would be incompatible with respect for his human dignity, his well-being, and his safety.”
Sheriff Nigel Ross discharged Daniel Magee after US officials “declined to give an assurance” that his human rights would not be violated.
Sheriff Ross raised concerns about persistent understaffing, forced unpaid labour, overreliance on solitary confinement, inadequate food, sweltering temperatures and a lack of independent oversight at Texan prisons.
Shooting at frat party
According to court papers from 2016, security guard Edward Earls removed Magee from the party for causing trouble.
It is alleged that about 30 minutes later, Magee returned with two roommates and shot the guard’s foot. His roommates were not charged.
Mr Earls has undergone a series of reconstructive surgeries to his foot and has launched a huge damages claim, worth around £4 million, against Magee and the Sigma Chi fraternity group which was hosting the house party.
The lawsuit states: “Magee’s conduct was extreme and outrageous in nature, and so extreme in degree, as to go beyond all possible margins of decency, as to be regarded as atrocious and utterly intolerable in a civilised society”.
Austin police previously claimed Magee arrived at the party “heavily intoxicated” and on the anti-anxiety drug Xanax.
Deadly weapon
He was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon – a first-degree felony in Texas.
Magee has moved between Texas and Aberdeen a number of times in his life due to his father’s job in the oil industry. He attended Stoneywood Primary School until 2007 and in 2013 he studied at Dyce Academy.
A woman who answered the door at Magee’s last known address in Dyce said no one called Daniel lives there.
When asked if she was a relative of his, the lady replied “that’s irrelevant” and closed the door.
Daniel Magee’s solicitor Paul Dunne declined to comment.
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