about the civil action filed by former President Donald Trump and two other parties about the death of U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick on January 6, 2021, at the Capitol Building, a federal judge provided some positive news on Tuesday.
U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, an Obama appointment, dismissed three of the five civil claims in a complaint filed by Sicknick’s girlfriend, Sandra Garza, a year ago in a 12-page decision. Based on a D.C. anti-riot law, her lawsuit sought damages from Trump and the Jan. 6 rioters, Julian Khater and George Tanios, for wrongful killing, conspiracy to violate civil rights, and negligence per se.
According to Fox News, Mehta rejected both the negligence per se claim and the wrongful death act count in his decision.
The report went on to say, “Garza’s claims against the defendants under D.C.’s Survival Act and the conspiracy to violate a civil rights claim will advance, although Mehta rejected the wrongful death and negligence civil counts against Trump. The Survival Act gives a person’s estate representative the ability to file a lawsuit after their passing.
Following the decision, Garza’s lawyer, Mark Zaid, stated that he and his client are “considering our next step options” to remove Trump from office.
Sicknick, who was on duty the day of the riot, was pepper-sprayed by both Tanios and Khater. The following evening, he succumbed to two thromboembolic strokes.
Sicknick passed away from a series of strokes due to “natural causes,” according to the D.C. Medical Examiner’s office, and “everything that transpired on [January 6] played a role in his condition.”
His attempt to use presidential immunity to have civil lawsuits against him for what happened on January 6 rejected by a federal appeals court last month.
The federal judge overseeing Trump’s election meddling trial pertaining to events on January 6 halted the case in December while a petition to have it dismissed entirely was pending.
The trial’s current start date of March 4, the day before the Super Tuesday primaries, may be affected by Trump’s appeal. As per his legal prerogative, federal prosecutors contend that Trump is making every effort to change the trial date in order to postpone it until after the November 2024 election.
However, in tandem with Trump’s appeal to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, special counsel Jack Smith filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court, which was denied late last month.