BY ADAM ATKINSON
North Country This Week

POTSDAM — A U.S. District Judge in Albany has ruled that Potsdam Police Chief Mark Murray be dropped from a lawsuit from Oral “Nick” Hillary who was acquitted of the 2011 murder of 12-year-old Garrett Phillips.

Hillary’s lawsuit, leveled after the acquittal, claims racial bias in the naming him as a suspect in the murder and that the bias had led to the subsequent trial. Murray was named as a defendant in the suit along with the Village of Potsdam, Village of Potsdam Police Department and others.

Murray, a lieutenant at the time of the murder, led the investigation into the case.

The 12-year-old boy was murdered in his Potsdam apartment on Oct. 24, 2011. Oral “Nick” Hillary, a former Clarkson soccer coach, was later arrested and charged with the murder. He was acquitted after a three-week bench trial in the fall of 2016.

U.S. District Judge Gary L. Sharpe ruled on Sept. 24 in Albany that Murray be dropped from the lawsuit.

“Hillary’s burden requires him to offer admissible evidence that demonstrates that Murray’s conduct in connection with the investigation and prosecution was motivated by Hillary’s race. Racism in the air, or a lack of diversity in theVillage of Potsdam or its police department — which is the sum total of Hillary’s attempt to show a triable issue of fact — is insufficient,” Sharpe wrote in the decision.

“Accordingly, Murray’s motion for summary judgment is granted, and all remaining claims against him are dismissed,” Sharpe said.