Attorney For Montclair's Russian Spy Speaks Out

"There certainly is a lot of hyperbole here," Richard Murphy's lawyer, Donna Newman, said in July of allegations that Murphy was infiltrating American intelligence circles. "What circles other than kindergarten play dates was he in?"

Donna Newman — who manages a multi-jurisdictional practice with a focus on representing criminal defendants in federal district court — shot into the limelight earlier this summer when she was asked to act as the attorney for Richard Murphy, who the world now knows as Vladimir Guryev, the accused Russian spy who lived on Marquette Road in Montclair.

Newman offers her own take on the case in a fascinating article in this summer's Atticus, the publication of the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Murphy, along with his wife Cynthia, were among 10 individuals arrested by U.S. law enforcement on June 27 on suspicions of spying for Russia. They were tried and deported in an exchange for four people convicted of spying in Russia for the West.

In late July, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin met with the deported spies and promised them each a bright and interesting life.

In the Atticus article, Newman wrote that the U.S. government sensationalized the arrests.

"In short, I argued the allegations against Mr. Murphy, if taken as true amounted
to nothing more than he was living under an assumed name, had received money from the Russian government which he then passed to another named defendant, had traveled  to Russian with a computer and returned with another computer, and was provided with false travel documents which he obtained and used
outside the United States," she said. "Beyond these allegations there was no claim of passing sensitive information or state secrets."

In addition, Newman said that throughout the court proceedings Richard Murphy expressed great concern for the welfare of his two school-aged children.

"In the end, the children's transportation to Russia to be reunited with their parents was arranged by the Russian Consulate with the assistance of the circle of friends who had cared for the children," she said. "I have learned the children were not only reunited with their parents but with their extended family whom they have never met."

To see the complete article by Newman, go to http://www.nysacdl.com/files/ATTICUS_Summer2010_web.pdf