A suspected US fugitive who claims to be the victim of mistaken identity reacted furiously in court after his lawyer accidentally called him by the wrong name.
Prosecutors contend the man is Nicholas Rossi, 34, who fled to Scotland from America to escape an array of alleged offences including rape.
The man, who claims he is actually Arthur Knight, appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Thursday for an extradition hearing.
Solicitor Becky Houston said she “appeared for Mr Knight” and the matter of his identification would be the subject of a full extradition hearing.
But she later slipped and referred to him as “Mr Rossi”, sparking anger from her client.
Sat in a wheelchair with a face mask linked to an oxygen tank, the man repeated, “Knight! Knight! Knight!, before being told to be quiet in court.
Sheriff Thomas Welsh QC replied: “Will everyone please calm down.”
The suspect, who is accused of faking his own death in the US, had earlier been warned about interrupting to talk during proceedings.
Ms Houston asked for the full hearing set for next month to be delayed. She said she had a “consultation” set with her client for next week.
The solicitor also said the defence were speaking with an expert to prepare submissions about conditions in Utah prisons.
US prosecutors claim the man is the Nicholas Rossi who raped a 21-year-old in Utah, in 2008. He is also said to have attacked women in Rhode Island, Ohio and Massachusetts. They say he has previously used the names Nick Alan, Nicholas Brown, Arthur Brown and Arthur Knight.
Ms Houston said the Crown were asking the defence to put forward its written case with lines of argument ahead of the full extradition hearing
Fiscal depute Clare Kennedy said prosecutors were preparing their case.
Sheriff Welsh QC said he wasn’t willing to delay the extradition hearing beyond its original date of June 9. He also set May 26 as the deadline for the defence’s written case to be lodged.
The sheriff said he would hear any arguments to delay the case at the June hearing.
Leaving court, the suspect declined to make any comment while accompanied by his wife, Miranda Knight, 41.
He was arrested at Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital last December while receiving treatment for Covid-19 after medical staff were shown pictures of him.
Nicholas Rossi reportedly told US media in December 2019 that he had late-stage non-Hodgkin lymphoma and had weeks to live. Several outlets reported that he had died in February 2020.
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