RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) – Tempers flared in a 34-year-old South Dakota murder case Friday when the government's key witness described the defendant as an enforcer for a leader of a militant American Indian group that clashed with tribal and federal agents in the 1970s.
Arlo Looking Cloud took the stand for the second day in the federal trial of Richard Marshall, who is charged with aiding and abetting the 1975 slaying of Annie Mae Aquash on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Aquash, a member of Mi'kmaq Tribe of Nova Scotia, participated in the American Indian Movement's 1973 armed occupation of the Pine Ridge village of Wounded Knee, a two-month siege that included ferocious gun battles with federal officers.
Prosecutors claim Looking Cloud and two other AIM members kidnapped Aquash in Denver before one sexually assaulted and shot her in South Dakota.
Looking Cloud, who is serving a life sentence for his role in Aquash's death, testified that Marshall provided the murder weapon, but he didn't tell authorities until 2008 because he was afraid of Marshall.
When prosecutor Bob Mandel asked why he feared Marshall, Looking Cloud said, “He was Russell Means' enforcer and he had confessed to a murder and he was released.”
Defense attorney Dana Hanna objected and asked for a mistrial, which U.S. District Judge Lawrence Piersol denied after a 15-minute break. Piersol had ruled earlier that Looking Cloud could only give limited testimony relating to Marshall's 1976 conviction for murder in the death of a man he shot in a bar.
Hanna's voice turned stern when Looking Cloud returned to the stand.
“Mr. Looking Cloud, you just couldn't wait to bring Russell Means' name into this trial, could you?” Hanna asked.
The defense attorney said Looking Cloud was upset because Means, an AIM leader-turned-actor, called a news conference several years ago and named Looking Cloud, John Graham and Theda Clarke as Aquash's killers. Looking Cloud denied that. Hanna cut off Looking Cloud at the end of his questioning.
“No other questions! You're done!” he snapped.
Mandel later complained that Hanna questioned Looking Cloud “in almost a violent manner quite frankly, yelling at the witness.”
The Marshall trial is another step in a case revived in 2003 when Looking Cloud and Graham were indicted for Aquash's murder. Graham, the alleged triggerman, is scheduled for trial in state court this summer.
Looking Cloud was the only witness Friday. He acknowledged years of drug and alcohol abuse and even lying to authorities but told jurors he has a good memory and was telling the truth about how Aquash was killed.
Looking Cloud testified he often mixed alcohol with drugs like LSD, heroin and methamphetamine but said his drug of choice was mescaline.
“Do you think all these drugs and alcohol help you remember things later on or did they impair you ability to remember things later on?” Hanna asked.
“I remember a lot of things,” Looking Cloud replied.