JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The daughter of a man brought from Scotland last week to stand trial for killing a man during a drug deal in Mayport in 1999 says he is not a bad man.
Philip Harkins returned to his homeland in Scotland not long after he was accused of killing Joshua Hayes. After he was charged with the death of a 62-year-old woman in a fatal 2003 crash, Florida authorities began extradition proceedings.
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Harkins fought that extradition for over a decade, claiming he could face the death penalty or life in prison if convicted of murder in Florida -- a reason others have successfully used to prevent being returned to the United States.
Rod Sullivan, who was a constitutional law professor, said courts in Europe might consider the punishment he would face in a Florida sentence excessive.
"In Europe, if he had been charged with same exact charge, it would be manslaughter and he might be out of jail in five years or less," Sullivan said. "The question was, it may be excessive under European law, but it’s not inhumane."
Harkins' daughter, Dominique, who is now 20, said she moved from Jacksonville to California to avoid publicity surrounding her father's case.
"He was taken away from me when I was 3. But, I mean, ever since he’s been gone, he’s been trying to do everything he possibly can for me and my sister," Dominique Harkins said. "I understand the mistake that he made in the past, so I don’t hold anything against him."
She said she talks to her father a lot, but over all the years she’s never talked to him about why he ran to Europe.
"He never told me anything about his situation because he feels like that’s something I don’t really need to have in my situation," Dominique Harkins said.
While Phillip Harkins is back in the Duval County jail, Sullivan said the State Attorney’s Office still has a big job to prove this case since 18 years have passed and producing enough evidence and getting witnesses to testify to convict Harkins could be tough.
In 2012 a British High Court said his extradition would not violate their Article 3, which prohibits inhumane treatment. An appeal to Human Rights Europe was ultimately denied because of he will not face the death penalty, and, since he has not yet been convicted of first-degree murder, he could feasibly be eligible for parole or clemency one day.