U.S. District Judge Lawrence Piersol has ruled that a key witness must appear in court for a competency hearing before the trial of Richard “Dickie” Marshall begins next week. Marshall has been charged in the murder of Annie Mae Aquash.

Theda Clarke has been ordered to appear before Judge Piersol on Feb. 16, the day Marshall’s trial is scheduled to begin in federal court.

Marshall, 58, is one of several people charged with the death of Aquash, an American Indian Movement activist whose body was found on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in February, 1976.

Clarke’s name came up repeatedly during the 2004 trial of Arlo Looking Cloud, who was also charged in Aquash’s murder, but Clarke has never been charged. She has been called as a witness, however.

Her attorneys maintain that Clarke, who is now in her 80s and lives in a Nebraska nursing home, has medical and age-related problems that make it impossible for her to serve as a witness. Medical personnel filed sealed affidavits supporting a motion to quash the subpoena calling for Clarke to testify. Both the defense and the prosecution opposed that motion.

Judge Piersol denied the motion and called for Clarke to appear in court. Marshall’s trial is scheduled to begin that afternoon.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Mandel, who also helped prosecute Looking Cloud, thinks this will be the first time Clarke has appeared in court in connection with the case.

If convicted, Marshall would face a mandatory sentence of life in prison, the same sentence Looking Cloud is serving.

Federal charges against co-defendant John Graham were dropped last week. Graham and Thelma Rios now face charges in state court related to Aquash’s death. Those charges also carry a penalty of life in prison.

Contact Heidi Bell Gease at 394-8419 or heidi.bell@rapidcityjournal.com