apr 12, 1977 - Skyhorse Mohawk Trial begins

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Jury selection began in the Superior Court murder trial of Paul Skyhorse and Richard Mohawk.
The most delayed trial in California history - the case of two American Indian Movement (AIM) members accused of killing a cab driver 2 1/2 years ago — began Tuesday after more than 150 days of the pretrial hearing, six judges, and a change of venue.

Estimating the trial would take “one year plus or minus six months," Judge Floyd Dodson said he would hear all 68 prospective jurors before deciding whom to excuse.

Dodson is a Santa Barbara County judge soundly defeated in a reelection bid but who retired before his term expired and thus became eligible for appointment as a visiting judge and has been a focus of controversy in the case.

Dodson's appointment was challenged and upheld in the state 2nd District Court of Appeal on a motion ‘filed by Slryhorse and Mohawk and in Santa Barbara Supe- rior Court on a suit filed by Santa Barbara Public Defender Thomas Buckwalter. whose case is under ap- peal. Both suits were filed on grounds the appointment dis- regarded the will of the voters.

The last challenge to Dodson came Monday when the defendants. act- ing as their own attorneys. sued to move the case out of state court into federal court. U.S. District Court Judge Paul Firth ruled their petition "inadequate."

They had claimed the state judicial system was guilty of racial bias because it allowed the appointment of a judge the voters had cast off.

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