Canadian man set to stand trial next month for the 1975 slaying of another American Indian Movement member can be held in the same jail as a co-defendant, a federal magistrate ruled Wednesday.
John Graham's first-degree murder trial is scheduled to start Oct. 6 in Rapid City federal court for the slaying of Annie Mae Aquash on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
Both were AIM members, as was Arlo Looking Cloud, who was convicted in 2004 and sentenced to a mandatory life prison term for his role.
Witnesses at his trial said he, Graham and another AIM member, Theda Clark, drove Aquash from Denver and that Graham shot Aquash in the Badlands as she begged for her life.
A third AIM member, Dick Marshall, was indicted last month on charges he aided and abetted the killing.
Marshall is being held in the Pennington County jail in Rapid City, where Graham had been incarcerated until Thursday when he was transferred about 70 kilometres to the Lawrence County jail in Deadwood.
Graham's lawyer, John Murphy, filed a motion to reverse that, stating it added a two-hour round trip for his meetings with Graham and makes it more difficult to confer as the trial approaches.
Federal prosecutors indicated the decision lies with the U.S. Marshals Service, which would allow having both men in the same jail, federal Magistrate Veronica Duffy wrote in her order.
"Upon consulting with that agency, the court has been assured that no safety issues or other issues exist which would cause the Marshals Service to object to Mr. Graham's request," she wrote.
The Marshals Service is to transfer Graham back as soon as possible but has the discretion to move the defendants in the future for safety or other reasons, Duffy wrote.
Murphy could not be reached for comment and federal prosecutors are not allowed to comment about pending cases.
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