[News] Appeal planned as Graham extradition to US cleared

[News at freedomarchives.org]

McClean's February 21, 2005 - 18:16
http://www.macleans.ca/topstories/politics/news/shownews.jsp?content=n022139A

Appeal planned as Graham committed for trial in U.S. for mid-1970s murder

VANCOUVER (CP) - A B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled Monday there's enough
evidence to extradite John Graham to the United States to stand trial for
the murder of a woman in South Dakota almost 30 years ago.

As Justice Elizabeth Bennett read her statement to a packed courtroom,
Graham sat with his arms crossed, often leaning forward as he intently
listened to the ruling. Graham, 49, was arrested in December 2003 for the
first-degree murder of Anna Mae Pictou Aquash, a fellow activist in the
American Indian Movement.

Aquash, a Mi'kmaq from Nova Scotia, was shot in the back of the head at
the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, where her body was
discovered on Feb. 24, 1976.

Graham has said he had nothing to do with Aquash's death, that the two met
in Minneapolis and struck up a friendship as young AIM members and fellow
Canadians.

Although the judge has committed Graham for extradition, the formal order
will not come until March 2 at the request of Graham's lawyer, who said he
will apply to keep his client out on bail while he prepares an appeal.

Graham's daughters broke down in tears and hugged when the judge reached
the key part of her decision that recommended their father be returned to
the U.S. to face a murder trial.

After Bennett finished reading her statement, one woman waved an eagle
feather as Graham's supporters - some wearing Free John Graham T shirts
and buttons - began piling out of the courtroom and embracing him as he
walked out.

The final decision on whether Graham is sent to the U.S. rests with the
federal justice minister.

"I'm very disappointed," Graham said outside court. "Surprised? No, I'm
not surprised. Because the lawyers warned me that the new extradition laws
don't give our justice power to give up against the U.S."

Terry LaLiberte, Graham's lawyer, said outside court that he will mount a
constitutional challenge against Canada's Extradition Act.

Since its amendment in 1999, the Act allows requesting countries to
provide only a summary of evidence seeking extradition instead of having
witnesses swear to an affidavit.

"We hope the Supreme Court of Canada will afford a Canadian citizen some
more rights, or the rights they'd be entitled to in Canada under the
Extradition Act, because it's simply unfair the way it's been written,"
LaLiberte said.

Under the Extradition Act - which is already the subject of legal
challenges - Bennett had to consider whether there was enough evidence to
commit Graham to trial had the offence occurred in Canada.

While Bennett said some of the evidence provided by the U.S. was bereft of
detail and presented in an unsatisfactory manner, those concerns were not
relevant to her task.

A judge hearing an extradition case must establish whether the person in
the prisoner's box is the one wanted by the requesting country.

In this case, several witnesses have said Graham used the alias John Boy
Patton, although some described that person as having different hair
colour, height and weight.

While LaLiberte had argued that Patton couldn't possibly be his client,
Bennett said the question of identity was answered by at least four
witnesses who will testify that Graham and Patton are the same person.

Graham's co-accused, Arlo Looking Cloud, was convicted of first-degree
murder last year and is serving a life sentence.

Bennett said several people will testify that they saw Graham, Looking
Cloud, and a woman named Theda Clark drive away with Aquash the last time
anyone saw her.

Looking Cloud had confessed before his trial that he was saw Graham shoot
Aquash in the back of the head with a silver .32-calibre revolver at or
near the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation as she begged for her life and
prayed for her children.

Court also heard that in 1976, John Boy Patton confessed to killing Aquash
and that he was later identified in photos as Graham.

Looking Cloud has said through his lawyer that he will not testify against
Graham, although Bennett said the man's evidence will still be available.

The FBI has implied that Aquash was executed because AIM leaders believed
her to be an informant for them during a volatile period between law
enforcement officials and natives fighting for territorial rights.

Aquash's daughter, Denise Maloney Pictou, who was 11 when her mother was
murdered, said from Halifax that there may finally be justice for her
mother if Graham stands trial.

"This certainly is a very loud message to us that my mother's life did
matter and that she is thought of as a human being and this does need to
be addressed."

Graham's three-decade saga has pitted natives against each other on both
sides of the issue in Canada and the United States.

Some believe that decades of poor race relations between natives and the
American government mean Graham would be doomed to a fate similar to
Leonard Peltier. Canada extradited Peltier home to the U.S. in 1976 after
he was accused of killing two FBI agents on what was later revealed to be
false evidence.

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