Inadmissible

The family of a Dallas Police Department motorcycle officer who died while escorting then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s motorcade in 2008 has sued Clinton individually, the Hillary Clinton for President Inc. Campaign, the city of Dallas and a motorcycle helmet manufacturer for damages. As alleged in the original petition in Theresa A. Lozada, et al. v. City of Dallas, et al. , filed Feb. 22 in the 298th District Court, Officer Victor A. Lozada, a 20-year veteran of the Dallas Police Department, was killed when he sped ahead of Clinton’s motorcade to block traffic and slammed into a concrete outcropping on the Houston Street viaduct near downtown Dallas. Among other things, the plaintiffs allege that Lozada, who had been trained as a motorcycle officer and had graduated shortly before being assigned to the motorcade, was not properly trained for an assignment as dangerous as the motorcade. The plaintiffs also allege that Clinton and her campaign “gave short and inadequate notice of the motorcade” and there was not enough time “to adequately prepare for the safety and well being of the officers including Officer Lozada.” The plaintiffs — Lozada’s survivors — allege that the Super Seer helmet Lozada was wearing was defective because the chin strap holding his helmet on disengaged during the crash. David Schiller of Plano’s The Schiller Firm , who represents the plaintiffs, did not return two telephone calls seeking comment. Neither did Dallas City Attorney Tom Perkins . A spokesperson for Super Seer says he is unaware of the suit. A spokesperson for the State Department refers a call for comment to Lyn Utrecht , a partner in Washington, D.C.’s Utrecht & Phillips who represents the Clinton campaign. Utrecht did not return two telephone calls.

A Northern District First

The U.S. district judges in the Northern District of Texas have selected federal prosecutor Renee Harris Toliver as a U.S. magistrate judge, according to Karen Mitchell, U.S. district clerk for the Northern District. Toliver will replace U.S. Magistrate Judge William F. Sanderson in Dallas, who is retiring March 31. Before taking her position, Toliver will need to pass a background investigation, which could take up to 12 weeks, Mitchell says. Toliver was born and raised in Fort Worth. The graduate of The University of Texas School of Law will be the first African-American U.S. magistrate judge for the Northern District, Mitchell says, and the second African-American on the Northern District federal bench. U.S. District Judge Sam Lindsay was the first. “I am so excited,” says Toliver, an assistant U.S. attorney in the Fort Worth Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office. She first applied for the magistrate judge position around Thanksgiving 2009 and then interviewed with a merit-selection panel composed of lawyers and other citizens to become one of five finalists interviewed by the district judges, Toliver says. She expects to be appointed to the bench for an eight-year term, and she will be eligible for reappointment, Toliver says.

Diversity Honors