Posted by admin on May 15th, 2011
by JOHN GRAHAM, Media Co-op, May 15 2011
After a week long trial and several inconsistent and contradicting prosecution witnesses, and the defense calling no witnesses, a South Dakota jury found me NOT GUILTY OF PREMEDITATED 1975 MURDER OF ANNA MAE AQUASH. After totally contradicting testimonies about the alleged kidnapping from Denver the same South Dakota jury found me guilty of the lesser charge of felony murder kidnapping. In felony murder cases the prosecution does not have to prove that the accused actually killed anyone. Instead the accused is found criminally liable for any deaths that occurred during or in furtherance of a felony. In this case the felony is the kidnapping charge. The murder having taken place in 1975, more than 35 years ago, the many contradictions in testimony was explained by the prosecution as a problem of degraded memory. Their entire case rested on verbal testimony without a shred of material or factual evidence. My defense motion for dismissal of charges because the prosecution failed to prove their case was denied by judge Jack Delaney. Felony murder carries the same sentence as premeditated murder so the judge had no alternative but to sentence me to life with no possibilty of parole. My lawyer filed an appeal on both the sentence and conviction. The trial transcript will be posted on my website in the very near future.
[ For more info on John’s case see these websites – http://ourfreedom.wordpress.com & http://www.grahamdefense.org ]
Posted by admin on Dec 29th, 2010
By Freejohngraham_info, Vancouver Media Co-op, Dec 29 2010
On December 10 a South Dakota jury found John Graham guilty of felony murder in the death of American Indian Movement (AIM) member Anna Mae Aquash. John Graham, a Tuchone native originally from the Yukon, continues to maintain his innocence. Aquash was murdered in the 1970s in an execution-style killing in South Dakota. Graham has said that she was his friend and comrade.
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Posted by admin on Dec 10th, 2010
By Freejohngraham_info, Vancouver Media Co-op, December 10 2010
Friday afternoon, a South Dakota jury found John Graham guilty of murder in the second degree. John Graham has been found guilty of felony murder in the kidnapping of Anna Mae Aquash, his friend and comrade in the American Indian Movement (AIM).
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Posted by admin on Oct 3rd, 2008
The Associated Press. October 3, 2008 at 4:03 PM EDT
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — U.S. prosecutors filed a new complaint Friday against a Vancouver man less than two hours after a judge dismissed the indictment in the slaying of a Canadian Mi’kmaq woman 32 years ago. John Graham was scheduled to stand trial Monday in Rapid City on a charge of first-degree murder for the 1975 shooting death of Anna Mae Aquash on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation when both were affiliated
with the American Indian Movement. The ruling means Monday’s trial will be called off but the case will proceed under a new complaint and will likely go before grand jurors again.
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Posted by admin on Sep 11th, 2008
We are writing to ask for your financial support to help defend John Graham. As most of you know, John Graham is a political prisoner who is Southern Tutchone from the Yukon Territory. He is currently imprisoned in Rapid City, South Dakota (Background Information Below). John’s trial date is set for October 2008 and his family and close supporters are planning to travel to South Dakota in order to support John during this time. There are, of course costs associated with this trip. Hence, in this letter, we are making a special financial appeal to support John’s family and friends to travel and stay in South Dakota for up to one month during his trial. * We are aiming for 50 people/organizations to donate at least $20 each by the end of September *
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