Judge dismisses wrongful death claim against Trump and Brian Sicknick’s assailants, but allows lawsuit to proceed – By Daniel Barnes and Zoë Richards (NBC News) / Jan 2, 2024
A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Sandra Garza, who was Sicknick’s partner, lacked standing to bring such a claim.
A federal judge in Washington on Tuesday dismissed a wrongful death claim brought as part of a lawsuit against former President Donald Trump and two men accused of assaulting U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick during the Capitol riot.
U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Sicknick’s longtime partner, Sandra Garza, lacked standing to bring such a claim against Trump and defendants Julian Khater and George Tanios because she was not Sicknick’s spouse and did not meet the legal definition of being his domestic partner.
“[Garza’s] 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,” Mehta wrote. “Garza therefore cannot recover the damages she personally seeks under the Act.”
