A Washington, D.C. District judge on Tuesday dismissed most of the claims brought against former President Donald Trump and other participants in the Jan. 6 Capitol riots by the partner of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who died after he was injured in the insurrection.
Sicknick’s domestic partner and the executor of his will, Sandra Garza, filed a lawsuit accusing the defendants of wrongful death, which Judge Amit Mehta dismissed for procedural reasons, on the grounds that Garza and Sicknick did not formally or officially declare their domestic partnership.
Garza also alleged conspiracy to violate civil rights and negligence based on the District of Columbia’s anti-riot statute, plus an additional negligence claim against convicted rioters Julian Khater and George Tanios, claiming their actions while they were illegally on federal grounds contributed to Sicknick’s death.
Mehta also tossed out the negligence claims, writing that they can only be brought when the defendants violate “specific duties” imposed under the statute.
Mehta upheld Garza’s survival act claim, which would allow any monetary damages awarded in the case to go to Sicknick’s estate and family members, rather than Garza only, and Garza’s claim of conspiracy to violate civil rights, which accuses Trump and the defendants of conspiring to execute the riot, allowing the lawsuit to move forward.
$10 million. That’s the amount of damages Garza is seeking.
Sicknick died from “natural causes” following a series of strokes he suffered as a result of the events of Jan. 6, the D.C. Medical Examiner found. Khater admitted to spraying Sicknick and another officer with pepper spray and was sentenced to over 6 years in prison last year. Tanios, accused of bringing the pepper spray to the Capitol and handing it to Khater, also took a plea deal in the case and was sentenced to time served.
Mehta on Tuesday also rejected Trump’s immunity defense, citing a December appeals court ruling that found Trump could be sued in a separate Jan. 6-related case in which he claimed he was immune from the allegations because they fell under his official acts as president. The appeals court asserted that Trump’s Jan. 6 conduct, however, was outside of the scope of his official duties and instead constituted campaign activity. Judges overseeing the various criminal and civil cases against Trump have repeatedly dismissed his immunity claim. Trump is currently fighting D.C. District Court Judge Tanya’s Chutkan’s dismissal of his immunity argument in the Justice Department’s Jan. 6 case before a Washington, D.C. appeals court, which is scheduled to hear oral arguments surrounding the legal question next week, and which is expected to eventually go to the Supreme Court.
