Where can David Drumm go from here?
The former Anglo Irish Bank chief executive has been at the wrong end of rulings by four American judges in the past year. The first two left him in a prison of debt; the second two in an actual prison.
On Monday, US District Judge Richard Stearns denied the 49-year-old Dubliner bail at his second time of asking, leaving him in the custody of US marshals at the Plymouth County Correctional Facility, an hour south of Boston. He will be held there until his extradition hearing in March.
Chains
Drumm
can appeal the ruling to a higher court, the First Circuit Court of Appeals in the same court in Boston where he has appeared in chains on three occasions since his arrest on an extradition request from
Ireland
on October 10th.
His failed US bankruptcy case is already before the First Circuit, where he is seeking to overturn the second denial of his attempt to discharge €10 million in debts due to his former bank. It would not be a surprise if he decided to bring his bail application there too.
With what appears to be unwavering financial support from his employers, a US investment company, Drumm can afford the three law firms he has fighting his corner and fund further legal actions.
The denial of bail for a second time, though, means Drumm will spend significant time in an American prison fighting extradition.
The problem for him is that the bar for release on bail is set very high in US extradition cases so a successful appeal will be difficult. The presumption is against bail and the burden is on Drumm to prove there are special circumstances justifying his release on bail.
He has so far failed to convince two judges that there are.
Appeal
Judge Stearns left the door open to Drumm to take another appeal to the court and request bail again should the US government be to blame for any further delays in his extradition hearing proceeding.
This seems unlikely given that the US attorney said that there is “nothing extraordinary in it”. The judges agreed that the March appearance is a “probable cause” hearing to decide whether Drumm has a case to answer in Ireland and will not be a “full-blown adversarial trial.”
Drumm and his lawyers are taking a different view. In seeking bail, they signalled that they intend to fight extradition very hard. They have said that, if he fails there, there could be several years of appeals.
Whether sitting behind bars for at least another seven weeks until his extradition hearing – or while contesting his extradition, possibly for years beyond that – will change Drumm’s calculus remains to be seen.
