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Murphy Law Office, P.C. has been representing John Graham (see picture above) since 2007. Mr. Graham, a citizen of Canada, is charged with murdering Anna Mae Pictou Aquash in 1975. Both Graham and Aquash were associated with the American Indian Movement. Ms. Aquash's murder has been the subject of books and movies, including "The Unquiet Grave" by Steve Hendricks, "The Life and Death of Anna Mae Aquash" by Johanna Brand, and, "Who Would Unbraid Her Hair" by Antoinette Claypoole.

Mr. Graham was first charged in 2003 with this murder. Based on a motion to dismiss filed by Mr. Murphy on Mr. Graham's behalf, that case was dismissed in 2008. The dismissal of that case was appealed by the government to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. An audio recording of the oral argument presented by Mr. Murphy on Mr. Graham's behalf is accessible free of charge through the Graham Defense Committee's web site, http://www.grahamdefense.org/courtdocs.

After the 2003 case was dismissed, the government indicted Mr. Graham on three additional murder charges, all related to Ms. Aquash. The district court dismissed one of those counts based on a motion filed by Mr. Murphy on Mr. Graham's behalf. That dismissal order was also appealed by the government, and it was submitted to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals without oral argument.

On July 28, 2009, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals issued its orders affirming the dismissal of both murder counts that had been previously dismissed by Judge Piersol. A trial date was set for October 6, 2009, for Mr. Graham to be able to present his defense to the two remaining murder counts pending against him. However, the government then filed a petition to have both of the prior appeals re-heard by the entire Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. That petition was denied in November of 2009. The case is presently set for trial in 2010.

The complete docket of over 500 pleadings in this file is publicly accessible through the Graham Defense Committee's web site, http://www.grahamdefense.org/courtdocs.

Dozens of newspaper articles relating to the case and to the work done by Mr. Murphy on Mr. Graham's behalf are available through web sites for the Associated Press and the Rapid City Journal. Other articles may be obtained by typing "John Graham" or "Anna Mae Aquash" into a search engine such as Google.

No new date has been set.