In another legal win for former President Donald Trump, a federal judge dismissed, on Tuesday, three civil counts against him and two others that had been filed in connection with the death, on January 6, 2021, of Officer Brian Sicknick of the Capitol Police.
Those civil counts had been filed as part of a lawsuit by Officer Sicknick’s girlfriend, Sandra Garza. In the suit, filed against former President Trump and two Jan. 6 protesters, Julian Khater and George Tanios, Garza sought damages for wrongful death, conspiracy to violate civil rights, and negligence per se.
U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta dismissed three of the five civil counts, those stemming from the wrongful death and negligence per see claims, in a 12-page ruling released on Tuesday, explaining why those claims are invalid and allowing Garza’s other claims, one of which comes under D.C.’s Survival Act and the other of which is the conspiracy to violate civil rights claim.
Explaining why Ganza’s wrongful death claim is invalid because she was his girlfriend, not a wife or other qualifying domestic partner, Judge Mehta wrote, “Under § 32-702(i), the District of Columbia recognizes domestic partnerships that are “established in accordance with the laws of other jurisdictions[.]” Garza does not allege that she and Officer Sicknick filed the requisite “declaration of domestic partnership” under District of Columbia law.”
Continuing on that point, Judge Mehta wrote, “Nor does she claim that they formed a domestic partnership under the law of any other jurisdiction. Her contention that a “domestic partnership” was established simply by Officer Sicknick having identified Garza as his “domestic partner” in his will finds no basis in the plain text of the statute. Garza therefore cannot recover the damages she personally seeks under the Act. The Wrongful Death Act claim therefore is dismissed.“
Judge Mehta then explained the negligence per se claim was invalid, writing, “this court already has held in another January 6th civil suit that the District of Columbia’s anti-riot statute, D.C. Code § 22-1322, “cannot sustain a claim of negligence per se.”
Continuing on the negligence per se point, Judge Mehta wrote, “Section 1752(a)(2) bars individuals from “knowingly, and with intent to impede or disrupt the orderly conduct of Government business or official functions, engag[ing] in disorderly or disruptive conduct in, or within such proximity to, any restricted building or grounds when, or so that, such conduct, in fact, impedes or disrupts the orderly conduct of Government business or official functions[.]” … Section 1752(a)(4) prohibits “knowingly engag[ing] in any act of physical violence against any person or property in any restricted building or grounds[.]” … Like the District’s anti-riot statute, these federal criminal laws do not “impose[] specific guidelines to govern [a defendant’s] behavior” but instead “are generally drawn statutes applicable to all and prohibit certain” conduct…Because violations of 18 U.S.C. § 1752 do not give rise to a negligence per se claim, Count 5 is dismissed.”
Commenting on the situation in a statement to Fox News Digital, an attorney representing Garza, Mark Zaid, said, “We are pleased to see that our lawsuit in pursuit of justice for the late Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who died in the aftermath of the January 6th insurrection, has been permitted to continue. We are now considering our next step options, to include deposing former President Trump.”
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