Marty Jackley Takes Over as South Dakota's Attorney General

On September 4, 2009, the former U.S. Attorney for South Dakota Marty Jackley (above) became South Dakota's Attorney General. President Obama has appointed Brendan Johnson, the son of Senator Tim Johnson, as the new U.S. Attorney. [See the United States Department of Justice, District of South Dakota. See Jackley's 8-25-09 letter of resignation.]

The Daily Republic (9-4-09) reports:

Marty Jackley, who has served as U.S. attorney for South Dakota since 2006, was sworn in Friday as the state's 30th attorney general. Gov. Mike Rounds appointed Jackley, 38, to the constitutional office on Aug. 19...

Former President George W. Bush had appointed Jackley as U.S. attorney for South Dakota...

President Barack Obama has nominated Brendan Johnson, son of U.S. Sen. Tim Johnson, to be the next U.S. attorney in South Dakota. [See Full Text]

I have written about U.S. Attorney Jackley in connection with the investigation of John Graham and Russell Means' former bodyguard Richard Marshall for the murder of Anna Mae Aquash.

Richard Marshall has already served time in prison for murdering Martin Montileaux in a bathroom stall on March 1, 1975.

News from Indian Country (NFIC) notes:

Montileaux was shot in the back of the head, at the base of the skull by one bullet while standing in a bathroom stall of the Longhorn Bar in Scenic, South Dakota. Russell Means was on the other side of Montileaux when he was shot.

According to the Minneapolis FBI report "Accounting For Native American Deaths" (May 2000):

Montileaux's dying declaration was "Russell Means' friend" was the person who shot him.

I wonder if the new appointments in South Dakota will affect the October trials in Rapid City of American Indian Movement members John Graham and Richard Marshall, who are accused of committing or aiding or abetting the December 1975 murder of AIM member Anna Mae Aquash.

The Aquash murder case has been plagued by jurisdictional issues because Anna Mae Aquash was a Canadian Indian who was murdered on American Indian Land. The two alleged killers are American and Canadian Indians. I believe that Richard Marshall will be tried by the Federal Government because this crime happened on Indian lands, and Marshall meets the legal definition of an "American Indian." I think that John Graham, a Canadian Indian, will be tried by the state of South Dakota because he is not legally an "American Indian."

Many people collaborated in the murder of Anna Mae Aquash. An American Indian, Arlo Looking Cloud, has already been convicted of Anna Mae's murder and is expected to testify for the prosecution.

The prosecution contends that Marshall gave Graham the gun he used to kill Aquash. According to News From Indian Country (10-08):

Marshall was at his house in Allen when he gave Graham, Looking Cloud and Clarke the revolver and shells used to kill Aquash, [the prosecutors] wrote. The prosecutors also wrote that the meeting included an exchange of the “baggage note” – correspondence supposedly to Marshall from other AIM members that referred to Aquash.

News From Indian Country (NFIC) keeps track of this case in a series of frequently updated Anna Mae Aquash time lines. NFIC makes this intriguing point:

Many of the most revealing updates on Leonard Peltier [who murdered two FBI agents on June 26, 1975] can be found in the Annie Mae Pictou Aquash time lines and information that has emerged since 2004. [See also Aquash - NFIC Files/Articles.]