VANCOUVER, British Columbia - A Canadian man
ordered back to the United States to face trial on charges that he
killed an American Indian Movement activist 32 years ago has
appealed that order.
John Graham turned himself in Thursday morning as
his case began in the Appeals Court of British
Columbia.
His bail was extended until Sept. 7, or until the
time when the panel of three judges hearing the case releases its
reserved decision.
Although Graham was not in court, about 80
supporters were, some sporting T-shirts with the legend Free John
Graham.
Graham is charged with first-degree murder in the
killing of Anna Mae Pictou Aquash on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
in South Dakota in late 1975. Her body was found Feb. 24, 1976. The
Nova Scotia native had been shot in the head.
Graham says he is innocent of the
charge.
Justice Elizabeth Bennett ordered Graham's
extradition in March 2005.
"There is sufficient evidence … to commit John
Graham for extradition to the United States to face the charge in
the murder of Anna-Mae Aquash," she said.
Graham's lawyer, however, told the appeals court
Thursday that Bennett made the decision on flimsy
evidence.
Aquash's death came amid a series of bloody
clashes in the mid-1970s between federal agents and AIM. Aquash, a
member of Mi'kmaq Tribe of Canada, was among Indian militants who
occupied Wounded Knee, S.D., for 71 days in 1973.
Prosecutors have said AIM leaders ordered Aquash's
killing because they suspected she was a government informant. AIM
leaders have denied that assertion.
Another man, Arlo Looking Cloud, was convicted a
year ago in the slaying. He has admitted he helped drive Aquash
from Denver to Rapid City, S.D., and eventually to the place where
he and others said Graham shot her.
Looking Cloud's lawyers had asked for a new trial,
saying the jury that convicted him based its decision on
prejudicial, irrelevant testimony and hearsay.
A federal appeals court, however, last year upheld
Arlo Looking Cloud's murder conviction.
Looking Cloud received a mandatory life sentence
after a jury convicted him last year of first-degree murder
committed in the perpetration of a kidnapping. He could qualify for
parole after 10 years.
