Lawyers for the bride accused of pushing her husband of eight days to his death from a cliff in Glacier National Park call the July event "a terrible accident." Prosecutors say they can now prove it was no accident at all, but a case of premeditated and, therefore, first-degree murder. Their position: that Jordan Graham blindfolded Cody Johnson before shoving him. They shared that theory with the defense in an Oct. 25 conference call, and are reportedly awaiting a DNA test on a piece of cloth found near Johnson's body, reports MTN News. But the defense isn't having it, for more reasons than one, which they outlined in court filing on Friday.
First, there's the practicality of it, says attorney Michael Donahoe: If the two were "arguing intensely on the ledge it hardly seems plausible that the argument would cease abruptly so Jordan could apply a blindfold." Second, there's the timing: Donahoe says the cloth was sent out for testing more than three weeks before his call with prosecutors; based on that timing, he says there's a good chance "the blindfold theory was not put to the grand jury at all"; the indictment was filed on Oct. 3, notes CNN. He wants the judge to bar the new theory from being presented, and, further, he wants the murder charge dropped, alleging a mishandled FBI interrogation of Graham. He notes in his filing that an FBI interrogator sent a detective out of the room so he could "shape" Graham's initial 90-minute interview without recording it, though doing so is required in Montana and though the equipment to do so was available, reports the AP. The trial is currently set for Dec. 9. (More Jordan Linn Graham stories.)
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