Jones v. United States - Affirmed on Spoliation, April 2026

Jump To

Top Caption Combined Opinion

Support FLP

CourtListener is a project of Free
Law Project, a federally-recognized 501(c)(3) non-profit. Members help support our work and get special access to features.

Please become a member today.

Join Free.law Now

April 24, 2026 Get Citation Alerts Download PDF Add Note

Jones v. United States

Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

• Citations: None known
• Docket Number: 24-2053

• Precedential Status: Non-Precedential

• Opinion

• Authorities (5)

• Cited By (0)

• Summaries (0)

• Similar Cases (34.2K)

• PDF

Combined Opinion

Case: 24-2053 Document: 75 Page: 1 Filed: 04/24/2026

NOTE: This disposition is nonprecedential.

United States Court of Appeals
for the Federal Circuit

---

DEBRA JONES, INDIVIDUALLY, AS NATURAL
PARENT OF TODD R. MURRAY, AND AS
PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF ESTATE OF
TODD R. MURRAY, ESTATE OF ARDEN C. POST,
AS SUCCESSOR TO CLAIMS OF ARDEN C. POST,
INDIVIDUALLY, AS NATURAL PARENT OF TODD
R. MURRAY,
Plaintiffs-Appellants

UTE INDIAN TRIBE OF THE UINTAH AND OURAY
RESERVATION,
Plaintiffs

v.

UNITED STATES,
Defendant-Appellee

---

2024-2053

---

Appeal from the United States Court of Federal Claims
in No. 1:13-cv-00227-RAH, Judge Richard A. Hertling.

---

Decided: April 24, 2026

---

Case: 24-2053 Document: 75 Page: 2 Filed: 04/24/2026

2 JONES v. US

JEFFREY S. RASMUSSEN, Patterson Earnhart Real Bird
& Wilson LLP, Louisville, CO, argued for plaintiffs-appel-
lants. Also represented by JEREMY JOSEPH PATTERSON.

THEKLA HANSEN-YOUNG, Environment and Natural
Resources Division, United States Department of Justice,
Washington, DC, argued for defendant-appellee. Also rep-
resented by TODD KIM.

---

Before LOURIE, DYK, and TARANTO, Circuit Judges.
TARANTO, Circuit Judge.
In April 2007, Todd Murray, a member of the Ute In-
dian Tribe, died from a gunshot to his head on the Uintah
and Ouray Reservation (Reservation). Since then, Mr.
Murray’s parents, Ms. Debra Jones and Mr. Arden C. Post
(collectively, the Murray Family), have pressed cases aris-
ing from the incident. In the present case, the Murray
Family seeks damages from the United States (govern-
ment) under Article VI of the 1868 Treaty with the Ute In-
dians, alleging that a particular local police officer shot Mr.
Murray. Treaty with the Ute, Mar. 2, 1868, 15 Stat. 619,
620. The case has been to this court twice before, see Jones
v. United States, 846 F.3d 1343 (Fed. Cir. 2017) (Jones II);
Jones v. United States, No. 2020-2182, 2022 WL 473032
(Fed. Cir. Feb. 16, 2022) (Jones V), and has come to focus
on whether Mr. Murray shot himself (as the government
contends) or the identified police officer shot him (as the
Murray Family contends).
In our 2022 ruling, we concluded that the government
must be appropriately sanctioned for spoliating evidence
by its (court-approved) destruction of one of the two rele-
vant handguns on the scene—the Hi-Point handgun, found
near Mr. Murray’s body—and we remanded to the United
States Court of Federal Claims (Claims Court) to fashion
an appropriate sanction for that spoliation; and we also
Case: 24-2053 Document: 75 Page: 3 Filed: 04/24/2026

JONES v. US 3

remanded for the Claims Court to decide whether the gov-
ernment had spoliated evidence by not taking into custody
the other relevant handgun, a Glock possessed by the iden-
tified local police officer at the scene, or that officer’s cloth-
ing. Jones V, at *9, 11. On remand, the Claims Court
fashioned a sanction relating to the Hi-Point and held that
no spoliation occurred with regard to the Glock or clothing.
Jones v. United States, No. 13-227, 2023 WL 2681819 (Fed.
Cl. Mar. 29, 2023) (Jones VI). The Claims Court then held
a trial, and after the trial, the court found in favor of the
government on the liability question, finding that the Mur-
ray Family failed to establish by a preponderance of the
evidence that the police officer shot Mr. Murray. Jones
v. United States, 171 Fed. Cl. 576 (2024) (Jones VII). The
Murray Family appeals. We now affirm.
I
A
The evidence recited by the Claims Court in its
ultimate findings supports the following account of what
occurred on April 1, 2007.
On that day, a Utah state trooper engaged in a high-
speed chase of a vehicle, in which Mr. Murray (wearing a
blue shirt) was a passenger, that led into the Reservation.
Jones VII, at 584–87. The chase ended in a car crash, and
Mr. Murray fled the scene on foot. Id. at 587. The trooper
requested reinforcements, and, as relevant here, Officer
Norton, Trooper Young, and Deputy Byron assisted in the
search for Mr. Murray. Id. at 588. These non-federal
officers were not federally deputized to perform law-
enforcement activities on the Reservation. S. Appx. 46. 1
At the time, Officer Norton, who worked for the Vernal
City, Utah Police Department, was off duty, was wearing a

1 “S. Appx.” refers to the government’s supplemental
appendix.
Case: 24-2053 Document: 75 Page: 4 Filed: 04/24/2026

4 JONES v. US

blue shirt, and could communicate with the police
communication hub (so-called dispatch) through his
personal cellphone. Jones VII, at 585, 588.
At some time between 11:23 and 11:24 a.m., Officer
Norton conferred with Trooper Young, and Deputy Byron
saw Officer Norton proceed on foot, alone, to try to find and
catch up with Mr. Murray. Jones VII, at 600. At 11:25
a.m., Deputy Byron and Trooper Young spotted Officer
Norton on a hill. Id. At 11:26 a.m., Deputy Byron reported
seeing a “runner on foot in blue” via his radio. Id. at 592–
95. Trooper Young replied that “[t]he blue is probably go-
ing to be the passenger,” referring to Mr. Murray. Id. at
593. The shooting occurred within a ninety-second period
during the next two minutes. Id. at 596. Nobody but Mr.
Murray and Officer Norton witnessed the shooting.
S. Appx. 49.
Officer Norton testified that, upon cresting the hill
(mentioned by Deputy Byron and Trooper Young), he saw
Mr. Murray approximately 120 to 130 yards away from
him. Jones VII, at 598. Officer Norton ordered Mr. Murray
to drop to the ground and drew his gun because he thought
he saw something black in Mr. Murray’s hand. Id. Mr.
Murray ran toward Officer Norton, firing two shots at
him—one of which hit the ground near Officer Norton’s
feet. Id. Officer Norton returned fire twice using his Glock;
the bullets did not hit Mr. Murray, and the casings were
later found 113 yards from Mr. Murray’s body. Id. at 597–
98, 601. Officer Norton then retreated further up the hill
and attempted to call the dispatch system used by the non-
federal officers. Id. at 598–99. During that time, Mr. Mur-
ray, who was right-handed, allegedly placed the Hi-Point,
a handgun, to the left side of his head and pulled the trig-
ger. Id. at 609, 616; S. Appx. 107.
At 11:27 a.m., Officer Norton informed dispatch of the
shooting. Jones VII, at 599–600. Around 11:29–11:31 a.m.,
Trooper Young and Deputy Byron joined Officer Norton at
Case: 24-2053 Document: 75 Page: 5 Filed: 04/24/2026

JONES v. US 5

an area near where the car crash occurred, then Trooper
Young and Deputy Byron proceeded, without Officer Nor-
ton, to where Mr. Murray lay on the ground. Id. at 601. An
ambulance took Mr. Murray to a hospital, where he died
soon after arriving. Id. at 604, 607.
A medical examiner conducted an external physical ex-
amination of Mr. Murray and determined that the hand-
gun producing the shot to the head was close to the skin
when discharged. Id. at 608. Mr. Murray’s death was clas-
sified as suicide resulting from a contact gunshot wound to
the head. Id. at 609.
B
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had juris-
diction to investigate the on-Reservation shooting, and an
FBI agent arrived at the scene of the shooting after Mr.
Murray had been transported to the hospital. Id. at 604.
The FBI agent reviewed and documented evidence and
spoke with the non-federal officers at the scene. Jones VI,
at *10–12. That FBI agent retired about a month after the
shooting. Id. at *4. A successor FBI agent later testified
that, following his review of the evidence, he had found no
evidentiary discrepancies in the non-federal officers’ de-
scriptions about the incident and never contemplated the
possibility of civil litigation because he thought that “this
was a clear-cut case” of suicide. Id. at *16.
As to the Hi-Point handgun found near where Mr. Mur-
ray lay: The on-the-scene FBI agent took custody of the Hi-
Point handgun, but it was never subjected to testing. Jones
VII, at 605, 616. The FBI did trace the Hi-Point and deter-
mined that it had been illegally purchased and given to the
driver of the vehicle involved in the chase. Id. at 609–10.
In 2008, the man identified as the purchaser was crimi-
nally convicted in a federal district court, which thereafter
ordered forfeiture of the Hi-Point pursuant to standard
procedures. The Hi-Point was then destroyed by the U.S.
Marshals Service.
Case: 24-2053 Document: 75 Page: 6 Filed: 04/24/2026

6 JONES v. US

As to Officer Norton’s Glock: The Chief of Vernal City
Police (Police Chief), who was Officer Norton’s boss, arrived
on the scene after Mr. Murray was transported to the hos-
pital, visually inspected the Glock, took custody of the gun
(which belonged to the Vernal City Police Department),
held it in his possession for several days, and then returned
it to Officer Norton. Jones VII, at 606; Jones VI, at *9, 34.
The Police Chief later testified that the Glock looked “pris-
tine.” Jones VII, at 606. The FBI never sought custody of
the Glock or requested that it be tested, S. Appx. 50–51,
and it is unclear what became of that handgun, Jones VII,
at 606.
As to Officer Norton’s clothing: The FBI likewise never
took custody of or ordered testing of the clothing that Of-
ficer Norton wore during the shooting incident. S. Appx.
51. The FBI agent who arrived onsite the day of the shoot-
ing testified that Officer Norton’s clothing was “clean and
pristine” and that he did not suspect that a physical alter-
ation occurred. Jones VII, at 605; Jones VI, at *34. A con-
temporaneous photo of Officer Norton corroborated this
description. Jones VI, at *10, 34.
C
In 2020, after earlier proceedings that included a trip
to this court, see Jones II, at 1346, the Claims Court made
the following rulings of relevance now. It held that the gov-
ernment had spoliated evidence by destroying the Hi-Point
and adopted a particular sanction, while it also held that
the government had not spoliated evidence by not taking
the Glock (and Officer Norton’s clothing) into custody.
Jones v. United States, 146 Fed. Cl. 726, 735–43 (2020)
(Jones III). It also granted summary judgment in favor of
the government. Jones v. United States, 149 Fed. Cl. 335,
340 (2020) (Jones IV)). In 2022, on the Murray Family’s
appeal, we held that a greater sanction was required for
the Hi-Point spoliation and a new analysis was required to
decide whether there was spoliation involving Officer
Case: 24-2053 Document: 75 Page: 7 Filed: 04/24/2026

JONES v. US 7

Norton’s Glock and clothing, and we vacated the rulings on
those two matters and also, therefore, the ruling against
the Murray Family on the damages claim. Jones V, at *4–
12. We remanded the case to the Claims Court for further
proceedings. Id. at *13.
D
In March 2023, the Claims Court imposed the following
sanction for the already-adjudicated spoliation of the Hi-
Point handgun:
1. A rebuttable adverse inference that the [Hi-
Point] did not have Mr. Murray’s blood, tissue,
fingerprints, or DNA on it. The [government] may
rebut this adverse inference only with physical
evidence or corroborating testimony from at least
one witness other than Officer Norton. If the
[government] rebuts this adverse inference, the
question of what the [Hi-Point] would have shown
will be treated as unknowable.
2. To prevent circumvention of the first sanction,
the [government] may not rely on any secondary
evidence as to what may have been found on the
[Hi-Point] or secondary evidence concerning the
un-ejected . . . shell casing found in the destroyed
handgun to support its arguments on the merits
that Mr. Murray died by a self-inflicted gunshot
wound. The [government] may on the merits [ ]
present physical evidence or testimony from
witnesses to corroborate Officer Norton’s testimony
to show that Mr. Murray was in possession of and
used the [Hi-Point] on April 1, 2007, and to provide
evidence concerning the origin, ownership, and
destruction of the weapon.
Jones VI, at *21. The Claims Court also determined that
the FBI did not spoliate Officer Norton’s Glock and
clothing. Id. at *26–42.
Case: 24-2053 Document: 75 Page: 8 Filed: 04/24/2026

8 JONES v. US

The Claims Court held a trial in November 2023. S.
Appx. 702. In May 2024, the court entered extensive
findings of fact and ruled that the Murray Family “failed to
prove by preponderant evidence that Officer Norton fired
the fatal shot or otherwise killed Mr. Murray.” Jones VII,
at 622. The Claims Court found that the government had
rebutted the Hi-Point’s adverse inference through certain
physical evidence (e.g., the locations of bullet casings) and
pertinent witnesses’ consistent testimony. Id. at 610–13.
The Claims Court also reasoned that “the most likely
explanation for how the [ ] Hi-Point came to be found at the
scene is the simplest: Mr. Murray brought the [Hi-Point]
himself” given the evidence connecting the handgun to the
driver of the vehicle in which he was the passenger. Id. at
612–13. Relevantly, the Claims Court reached its merits
decision, in part, by relying on the dispatch recording of the
“runner on foot in blue” to construct a timeline under which
it was highly implausible, if not impossible, for Officer
Norton to have taken the actions needed for him to have
been the fatal shooter given the evidence. Id. at 592–96,
606, 613–18. Thus, the Murray Family was unable to
recover damages from the government under the 1868
Treaty with the Ute Indians. The Murray Family timely
appealed. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C.
§ 1295 (a)(3).
II
The Murray Family presents essentially three chal-
lenges on appeal. First, we understand the Murray Family
to argue that the spoliation sanction for the Hi-Point, at
least as applied, was insufficiently strict. Appellant Open-
ing Br. at 45–46. Second, the Murray Family argues that
the Claims Court erred in determining that the FBI did not
spoliate Officer Norton’s Glock and clothing worn the day
of the shooting. Id. at 25–28. Finally, the Murray Family
urges us to conclude that the Claims Court erred in finding
that Officer Norton did not shoot Mr. Murray because the
Claims Court considered inadmissible evidence concerning
Case: 24-2053 Document: 75 Page: 9 Filed: 04/24/2026

JONES v. US 9

the Hi-Point’s chain of ownership and improperly relied on
the dispatch transcript recording the sighting of the “run-
ner on foot in blue” to establish the timeline of the shooting.
Id. at 38–41.
We do not set aside a factual finding of the Claims
Court unless we determine that it is clearly erroneous, i.e.,
unless we are left with “a definite and firm conviction that
a mistake has been committed.” Pacific Gas & Electric Co.
v. United States, 668 F.3d 1346, 1350–51 (Fed. Cir. 2012)
(cleaned up). We review the Claims Court’s evidentiary de-
terminations for an abuse of discretion, which is “found
when (1) the [Claims Court’s] decision is ‘clearly unreason-
able, arbitrary, or fanciful,’ (2) the [Claims Court’s] deci-
sion is ‘based on an erroneous conclusion of the law,’ (3) the
[Claims Court’s] findings are clearly erroneous, or (4) the
record contains no evidence ‘upon which the [Claims Court]
rationally could have based its decision.’” Zafer Taahhut
Insaat v. Ticaret A.S., 833 F.3d 1356, 1365 (Fed. Cir. 2016)
(quoting Air Land Forwarders, Inc. v. United States, 172
F.3d 1338, 1341 (Fed. Cir. 1999). Applying those standards
of review, we reject the challenges presented on appeal.
A
The Murray Family argues that the Claims Court’s spo-
liation sanction for the destruction of the Hi-Point should
be set aside as too lenient, at least as applied, because what
was required was “an instruction that . . . the United
States was liable for the death of Mr. Murray.” Appellant
Opening Br. at 45; see id. at 42–48. We disagree. The
Claims Court did not abuse its discretion by imposing the
particular sanction of an adverse inference, defined in
scope and rebuttable in limited ways.
In our 2022 opinion, we indicated that an appropriate
sanction could be “an adverse inference or inferences” re-
garding the Hi-Point, and we directed the Claims Court to
evaluate whether the government should be prohibited
from relying on secondary evidence relating to the
Case: 24-2053 Document: 75 Page: 10 Filed: 04/24/2026

10 JONES v. US

spoliated gun (e.g., photographs and testimony). Jones V,
at *11. We explained that an appropriate sanction “(1) de-
ter[s] parties from engaging in spoliation; (2) place[s] the
risk of an erroneous judgment on the party who wrongfully
created the risk; and (3) restore[s] the prejudiced party to
the same position he would have been in absent the wrong-
ful destruction of evidence by the opposing party.” Id. at
*9–10 (citation omitted and cleaned up). While a case-dis-
positive sanction may be necessary in some circumstances,
we have explained that such a sanction “should not be im-
posed unless there is clear and convincing evidence of both
bad-faith spoliation and prejudice to the opposing party.”
Micron Technology, Inc. v. Rambus Inc., 645 F.3d 1311,
1328–29 (Fed. Cir. 2011). Bad faith requires more than a
finding that the contested evidence was “‘intentionally’” de-
stroyed because “‘bad faith’ means destruction for the pur-
pose of hiding adverse information.’” Id. at 1327 (citation
omitted).
On remand, the Claims Court imposed a sanction on the
government for spoliation of the Hi-Point through a “rebut-
table adverse inference” that the handgun did not contain
Mr. Murray’s blood, tissue, fingerprints, or DNA. Jones VI,
at *21. The Claims Court permitted the government to re-
but the inference through reliance on physical evidence or
testimony from witnesses other than Officer Norton, and,
if successful, the result would be no more favorable to the
government than deeming to be simply unknowable what
would have been found on the gun. Id. at *22. And the
Claims Court prohibited the government, in trying to meet
its burden to rebut the adverse inference, from relying on
contemporaneous photographs of the Hi-Point or other
such secondary evidence. Id.
The Claims Court’s sanction was consistent with our
2022 opinion and not otherwise an abuse of discretion. Alt-
hough the Hi-Point would have been important evidence
and its spoliation may have prejudiced the Murray Fam-
ily’s ability to recover (depending on what the handgun
Case: 24-2053 Document: 75 Page: 11 Filed: 04/24/2026

JONES v. US 11

would have revealed), the Claims Court reasonably found
that the government acted only negligently when destroy-
ing the handgun, not in bad faith. Micron, 645 F.3d at
1327–28; Jones VI, at *22–24. The FBI destroyed the Hi-
Point pursuant to routine FBI procedures, in compliance
with a court order, with public notice having been given,
and with no request for preservation having been made.
Jones VI, at *23–24. The Claims Court reasonably found
that a rebuttable adverse inference was better aligned with
the degree of the FBI’s culpability. Id. The Claims Court
also reasonably determined that the sanction it adopted
was an effective one and fits all the circumstances better
than a case-dispositive sanction in other ways. It limited
the evidence that the government could use for rebuttal,
and it restricted the benefit to the government of successful
rebuttal to a conclusion of unknowability, not a conclusion
favorable to the government. Id. at *24. And it in fact al-
lowed the Murray Family to go to trial to try to establish
liability with all the evidence still available. See Jones VII,
at 580.
Additionally, we reject the Murray Family’s challenge
to the Claims Court’s application of the spoliation sanction.
The Claims Court complied with our remand instructions
when it treated the DNA or fingerprints on the Hi-Point as
simply unknowable and when it linked the Hi-Point to Mr.
Murray through “the testimony of multiple officers, the
transcript of transmissions to and from dispatch, and [the
FBI’s] investigation.” Jones VII, at 613; see id. at 611–13.
And the Claims Court reasonably relied on the absence of
persuasive evidence that would connect the weapon to Of-
ficer Norton and support an inference that the handgun
was planted near Mr. Murray. Id. at 612–13.
For those reasons, we conclude that the Claims Court
did not abuse its discretion in either its formulation of the
spoliation sanction or its application.
Case: 24-2053 Document: 75 Page: 12 Filed: 04/24/2026

12 JONES v. US

B
We similarly conclude that the Claims Court did not
abuse its discretion in determining that Officer Norton’s
Glock and clothing were not spoliated. Jones VI, at *33–
41. “[A] party can only be sanctioned for destroying [rele-
vant] evidence if it had a duty to preserve it” and “a rea-
sonable party in the same factual circumstances would
have reasonably foreseen litigation.” Micron, 645 F.3d at
1320 (citation omitted). Here, consistent with our 2022
opinion, Jones V, at *8, the Claims Court did not err in de-
termining that the FBI did not have a duty to preserve the
Glock and clothing.
The Claims Court reasonably found that there was no
such duty because it was not sufficiently evident that a
crime had occurred. Jones VI, at *33–41. The Claims
Court persuasively explained that the evidence (e.g., the
contemporaneous photograph of Officer Norton’s clothing
and the Police Chief’s testimony about the condition of the
Glock) corroborated the testimony of the FBI agent, who
had arrived onsite that day; that the non-federal officers’
attestations undercut any inference of criminal activity;
and that no other evidence provided sufficient indications
that Mr. Murray’s gunshot wound was the result of crimi-
nal activity rather than a self-inflicted injury. Jones VI, at
*34–39. That is enough for us to affirm the Claims Court’s
ruling of no spoliation relating to the Glock and clothing
without our having to reach the government’s assertion
that the Claims Court erred in finding sufficient foreseea-
bility of litigation.
C
Finally, as to the ultimate non-liability determination,
we conclude that the Claims Court did not clearly err in
finding that the Murray Family failed to establish by a pre-
ponderance of the evidence that Officer Norton shot Mr.
Murray. See Jones VII, at 613–22. The Murray Family has
presented to us no ground for overturning that finding.
Case: 24-2053 Document: 75 Page: 13 Filed: 04/24/2026

JONES v. US 13

First, the Murray Family has not demonstrated that
the Claims Court erroneously admitted the ownership his-
tory of the Hi-Point into evidence. See Appellant Opening
Br. at 41–42. The record before the Claims Court reflects
that the Murray Family stipulated to the admission of the
handgun’s ownership history. S. Appx. 291 (stipulating ad-
mission of pages 399–400 of the FBI agent’s testimony, S.
Appx. 207–208).
Second, the Murray Family has not presented a meri-
torious challenge to the Claims Court’s reliance on the po-
lice dispatch transcript documenting the sighting of the
“runner on foot in blue.” The Claims Court’s reliance on
this transcript is not undermined, for purposes of setting
aside the judgment before us, by evidence not admitted in
the Claims Court (on which the Murray Family relies here)
or by the Murray Family’s arguments against the Claims
Court’s inference that Deputy Byron was the officer who
reported seeing Mr. Murray. Appellant Opening Br. at 38–
41 (citing an unadmitted deposition). The Claims Court
carefully evaluated the physical evidence (e.g., the location
of both guns’ shell casings and the fact that Mr. Murray
was wearing a blue shirt) and the non-federal officers’ tes-
timony about their relative positions to find that the run-
ner was Mr. Murray. Jones VII, at 593–96. The Claims
Court reasonably relied on that evidence, together with the
contextual inference that the relevant non-federal officers,
who had viewed Officer Norton only a few minutes prior to
the search, would likely have recognized him as the runner
discussed in the dispatch transcript. Jones VII, at 593–95.
We have reviewed the extensive record evidence pre-
sented to us. Based on that review, we conclude that the
Claims Court, which wrote a comprehensive and careful
opinion, did not clearly err in finding that Officer Norton
did not shoot Mr. Murray. See Jones VII, at 613–22. The
court meticulously constructed a timeline of events, down
to the level of minutes and seconds, of when the shooting
could have occurred. Id. at 579–613. It reasonably found
Case: 24-2053 Document: 75 Page: 14 Filed: 04/24/2026

14 JONES v. US

that, given the mere ninety-second period from when Mr.
Murray was last seen alive and when the shooting hap-
pened, there was no preponderance of evidence that Officer
Norton shot Mr. Murray. The court appropriately consid-
ered the facts that Officer Norton was off-duty at the time
of the chase and had no connection to either Mr. Murray or
the Hi-Point and was thus unlikely to have prepared evi-
dence to plant. Id. at 614–15. The court also reasonably
considered that the nonfederal officers were generally no
more than mere acquaintances, a fact tending to undercut
any theory that they conspired to plant evidence or stage
an elaborate cover-up. Id. at 612. Relatedly, the court
reasonably pointed to Officer Norton’s evident distress
when he reported the shooting as suggesting that he was
“unlikely to [have] invent[ed] and then implement[ed] a
complicated story to explain the shooting in the limited
time before other officers would arrive at the scene.” Id. at
615. The record before us demonstrates no clear error in
the Claims Court’s finding of no liability in this case.
III
We have considered the Murray Family’s remaining ar-
guments and find them meritless. For the reasons stated,
we discern no reversible error in the rulings challenged on
appeal, and we affirm the Claims Court’s judgment.
The parties shall bear their own costs.
AFFIRMED