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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that a Ute tribal member was not murdered by a Vernal police officer after a 2007 chase as his family claimed in a lawsuit.
U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell of Salt Lake City, in a decision handed down Friday, said Todd Murray died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on the Uintah and Ouray Reservation in northeastern Utah.
Campbell found Murray's family members offered "speculation rather than evidence" to support their claim that detective Vance Norton killed him.
The Deseret News reports (http://bit.ly/1n6NX1W ) the judge dismissed claims against Norton of assault and wrongful death, and concluded Murray's civil rights weren't violated.
The family's $6 million suit claimed police lacked jurisdiction to pursue Murray onto the reservation and multiple violations of his civil rights occurred.
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Information from: Deseret News, http://www.deseretnews.com
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