Prosecutors respond to appeal of Glacier murder conviction

KALISPELL (AP) — Federal prosecutors have responded to a Montana woman’s motion to appeal her conviction for pushing her newlywed husband to his death from a cliff in Glacier National Park in July 2013.

Jordan Graham of Kalispell pleaded guilty to second-degree murder just before closing arguments were to be held in her December 2013 trial. A judge rejected her motion to withdraw her guilty plea after she argued that the government’s request for a life sentence was an attempt to punish her for first-degree murder for the death of Cody Lee Johnson. She was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Defense attorneys filed an appeal in October seeking a new trial on a on a manslaughter charge.

Prosecutors noted the judge told Graham that a life sentence was a possibility.