Federal court upholds treaty provision, allows family’s lawsuit to proceed

FT. DUCHESNE, Utah

For the second time in five years, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has reversed the dismissal of a lawsuit brought under the “bad man” clause of the 1868 Ute treaty.

The suit seeks to hold the United States responsible for the 2007 shooting death of 21-year-old Todd Murray, an enrolled member of the Ute Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation.

On Feb. 16, the court vacated a dismissal the U.S. had obtained in Jones v. United States. This time, the court reinstated and remanded the case with an even stronger ruling in favor of Murray’s family than what it had first entered with its initial ruling in the case in 2017.

Murray, 21, was fatally shot on April 1, 2007, after the car in which he was a passenger was pursued by Utah state, county and local police officers more than 25 miles on the reservation, where none of the state officers had law enforcement authority over tribal members.

After Utah state officers stopped the vehicle and arrested the driver, the officers then began pursuing Murray on foot and in state police vehicles.

Murray sustained a fatal bullet wound to the left side of his head, behind his left ear.

There are discrepancies in the accounts of the Utah state officers who were on the scene, but off-duty Vernal City Police Officer Vance Norton maintains that Murray shot himself.

The Murray family, however, has consistently maintained that Murray was right-handed and that it was impossible for him to have shot himself as Norton alleged.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation was responsible for investigating the killing conducted no investigation whatsoever and no autopsy was ever performed.

In fact, FBI agents allowed Utah state officers to desecrate Murray’s body and to illegally draw blood from his body in vials that were then never logged into evidence.

The FBI also allowed the gun Murray allegedly had in his possession to be destroyed without first being examined for fingerprints or other forensic evidence.

In 2009 the Murray family filed a federal civil rights suit against the Utah state officers involved in Murray’s death. However, that lawsuit was dismissed on grounds including the lack of evidence and the state officers’ qualified immunity from suit.

In 2013, the Murray family filed suit against the United States, seeking damages under the “bad man” clause of the tribe’s 1868 treaty. That clause allows tribal members to sue the United States for damages that have been caused by “bad white men” who have come onto the reservation and caused damages to tribal members.

Since 2013, the U.S. has defended against the Murray family’s suit, asserting many arguments including that federal law enforcement officers cannot be deemed as “bad men” under the treaty.

The Circuit Court of Appeals has consistently rejected the U.S.’s arguments.

At long last, it appears the Murray family’s “bad man” suit against the U.S. will go to trial and be decided on the merits.

Shaun Chapoose, chairman of the Ute Indian Tribe Business Committee, hailed this latest ruling from the federal court.

“Both the Utah state officers and the FBI showed a callous disregard for the life of 21-year-old Todd Murray, and the suffering endured by his family due to his senseless and unnecessary death,” Chapoose said.

He added that the “bad man” suit is “important to every individual member of the Ute Tribe because it means that state officers cannot come onto our reservation and injure or kill our tribal members without a federal investigation being conducted – it means the FBI cannot sit by idly when our tribal members are injured or killed.”

---