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Senior, who slit friend's throat, accused of arranging fake ID

The lawyer for Jean Ann James, denied she had attempted to obtain a fake ID from a fellow inmate at her bail hearing on April 10, 2012.

The lawyer for Jean Ann James, denied she had attempted to obtain a fake ID from a fellow inmate at her bail hearing on April 10, 2012.

The Richmond senior, 72, convicted of murdering her friend nearly 20 years ago, was accused of attempting to obtain false ID in order to flee the country.

The denial was made by lawyer Ravi Hira during his application to grant bail for Jean Ann James pending her appeal of her conviction in the June 1992 first-degree murder of Grace Wakabayashi.

In February, the bail application was adjourned after it was revealed that the RCMP had launched an investigation into James' conduct during her incarceration at the Fraser Valley Institution for Women.

On Tuesday, it was revealed that a fellow inmate had written a letter to the Crown saying James wanted to obtain fake ID - specifically the ID of a First Nations person - in order to flee Canada.

James allegedly told the inmate, who can only be identified as "inmate A" due to a publication ban, that she had relatives in England and the U.S. and money at her disposal.

But inmate A is also appealing a conviction of first-degree murder and wanted the letter placed on her appeal file, said Hira.

And while inmate A wrote the letter, she signed it with the fake signature of inmate C, he noted.

Hira quoted from an affidavit filed by James denying the allegations.

"She doesn't have a passport and her citizenship documents were surrendered while she was on bail pending trial," he told B.C.

Court of Appeal Justice Ian Donald.

"She denies asking for a First Nations status card. In the last paragraph she notes that the proposition is ridiculous since she has blond hair and a fair complexion."

Hira argued that the circumstances of his client's confession to undercover police were exceptional and said there was no hold back evidence and no corroboration and therefore she should be entitled to bail.

But Crown counsel John Gordon told the judge that the issues surrounding the Mr. Big confession were fully canvassed at trial and dealt with appropriately by the trial judge.

He noted that the presumption of innocence has been lost since the conviction and it's rare that people convicted of first-degree murder are granted bail pending appeal.

Gordon said the details of the murder, in which James, 72, slit her friend's throat after believing that she had had an affair with her husband, were particularly gruesome and horrific.

The prosecutor said he "didn't rightly" know what the judge should make of the inmate allegations regarding James' flight risk, but argued that the offender has a significant motive to flee the country.

"She faces the prospect of living the remainder of her life in prison. She is not eligible for parole for 25 years."

Following submissions, the judge reserved judgment.

James was convicted by a B.C. Supreme Court jury in November. Court heard her telling undercover police that she used box cutters to slash the throat of Wakabayashi, 41, in the victim's Shaughnessy home.

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