This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The Ute Tribal Court is under attack in two actions in federal court in Salt Lake City for allegedly violating a judge's order that prohibits Ute court judges from accepting cases over which they don't have legal jurisdiction.
Both actions involve the disputed circumstances that led to the death of a tribal member following a high speed pursuit by a Utah Highway Patrol officer. The death prompted a lawsuit, which was subsequently dismissed in federal court but then refiled in Ute Tribal Court, according to documents.
Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes has asked to intervene in the cases and is seeking a declaration that the tribal court does not have jurisdiction to hear a case involving Utah police officers and others who were performing their official duties.
Salt Lake City attorney Jesse Trentadue also is asking that the Tribal Court and attorneys who filed the action be found in contempt of court and sanctioned for violating the previous order.
The legal dust-up stems from the April 1, 2007, death of tribal member Todd R. Murray.
Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Dave Swenson attempted to stop a car in which Murray was a passenger. The driver sped away and led Swenson on a high-speed chase that ended on the Ute reservation where Murray jumped out and ran.
Other officers arrived on the scene and gave chase. Vernal Detective Vance Norton encountered Murray, who was armed, and the two exchanged shots, according to the officers' accounts.
Murray died at the scene. Norton said he saw Murray put his gun to his head. A medical examination concluded the death was a suicide and that drugs and alcohol contributed to the death.
A lawsuit by Murray's parents accused Norton of shooting Murray in the head at point blank range. U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell dismissed the suit last year, citing evidence that Norton was 100 yards from Murray at the time of the fatal shot and that other factors as well led to the conclusion of suicide.
The parents appealed Campbell's ruling and case remains pending before the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Meantime, in March of this year attorneys for the parents filed suit in Ute Tribal Court.
Trentadue argues that an 2014 order by U.S. District Judge Bruce Jenkins bars the Ute Tribal Court from accepting cases in which it doesn't have jurisdiction. A U.S. Supreme Court ruling held that tribal courts do not have jurisdiction over state officials for legal actions "relating to the performance of their duties."
"It's outrageous the notion you can go to the United States District Court and lose and you can go back to tribal court because you're dissatisfied with what a United States federal judge has decided," Trentadue said.
He's asking that the Colorado law firm of Fredericks Peebles & Morgan be sanctioned for filing the Tribal Court lawsuit in alleged violation of a court order. An attorney from that firm, Jeffrey S. Rasmussen, told him that they did so because his clients were "dissatisfied" with Campbell's ruling tossing out their suit, Trentadue wrote in his motion.
Rasmussen disputed Trentadue's version of their conversation.
"As I stated to Mr. Trentadue, my recollection of his and my brief conversation is different," Rasmussen wrote in an email.
Jenkins has set a hearing for Wednesday for arguments.