A federal judge in Brooklyn, in a summary judgment, ruled that Murray and Gould were not employed in Las Vegas at the time they were arrested and thrown into prison on suspicion of having terrorist links in February 2002.
But a Nevada immigration court has separately ruled that the couple were in fact employed and were thus under the umbrella of the Walsh Visa program, which is administered by Northrop on behalf of the U.S. State Department.
Murray and Gould’s suit, before the Brooklyn-based Federal Court for the Eastern District in New York, arises from the ultimately false accusations of terrorist links leveled at them.
The couple were released without charge after spending a week in jail, but then faced deportation proceedings.
Since that time, Murray and Gould, who came to the U.S. under the Walsh Visa program, have won several reprieves from an immigration judge in Las Vegas. The latest allows them to remain in the U.S. until January. But, more important, it provides a legal opinion that will be the core of their appeal against the federal decision.
That judgment, delivered by U.S. District Judge Allyne Ross, accepted Northrop’s argument that Murray and Gould had been unemployed for more than 30 days at the time of their arrest and were thus outside the Walsh program.
In addition to Northrop, the suit against Northrop also named Murray and Gould’s employer in Las Vegas, Steve Smith. It was accusations leveled by Smith that resulted in Murray and Gould being jailed.
The couple say they told Northrop that Smith did not pay them their work at his Las Vegas hang-gliding company.
In a separate matter, Smith was convicted in a Las Vegas court of abducting a prostitute. He has also been the subject of separate investigations by law-enforcement authorities in the Nevada city.
The suit against Northrop sought a jury trial, compensatory damages in excess of $1 million, and punitive or exemplary damages in excess of $100 million.
Judge Ross, in her summary judgment, ruled that the question of damages was moot given that the court accepted Northrop’s position that Murray and Gould were not employed by Smith when arrested.
The couple’s attorney, Eamonn Dornan, said that he had filed notice of appeal against the federal judge’s decision.
A central part of the appeal, he said, would be that the federal judge had exceeded her authority by ruling on an immigration matter and that the Nevada immigration court was more qualified with regard to Murray and Gould’s status as workers in the Walsh program.
Dornan said that his clients were currently applying for special “U” visas, which are granted to crime victims whose cases are pending before a U.S. court.