MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The final hearing for the lawsuit seeking sanctions against the City of Memphis for its alleged failure to test more than 12,000 DNA rape kits will be held March 2 at 10 A.M.
Several victims are represented in the case Janet Doe v. The City of Memphis.
The Memphis class action lawsuit, if ruled in favor of the victims, will hold the City of Memphis responsible for "recklessly inflicting emotional distress" of the many rape victims, Attorney Daniel Lofton said.
Attorneys Lofton and Gary K. Smith represent the victims in the case.
According to Lofton, he and Smith are asking the court declare that the city is "liable by summary means" before the scheduled hearing.
Lofton and Smith argue that the evidence in the case is "uncontradicted," stating that the City of Memphis failed to meet the requirements of a mandate that was set by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation in 2003. This mandate required the testing of no-suspect rape kits.
On the contrary, the city says there was no standard for the process of testing rape kit evidence until 2016.
The victims in this case face a grave disadvantage, as they have reportedly been waiting for rulings from previous hearings for five years, Lofton said in a press release.
