Family "disappointed and irritated" by new report on police chokehold death
Relatives of Mitch Henriquez are very unhappy about a new report by a forensic doctor on behalf of two police officers being prosecuted for Henriquez death. The report, published on Monday, states that Henriquez very likely died from cardiac arrest, and not due to a chokehold used on him during his arrest.
"The family is disappointed and irritated", Alex Dijkhoff, spokesperson for the family, said to to NOS. "They feel that the police officers are doing everything they can to delay the case." The family has little confidence left in the judicial process and doubt that the officers involved will be tried fairly. "The officers do not realize what they are doing to this family", Dijkhoff said.
The report resulted in the court delaying the trial against the officers. It was scheduled to start on April 6th. Henriquez' family is unhappy with this delay, according to lawyer Richard Korver, who represents part of the family. Many family members already booked tickets to the Netherlands to attend the trial, which has now been delayed. Those are costs that could have been avoided, the lawyer writes on in website.
Henriquez died one day after being arrested by the police at a music festival in The Hague in June 2015. An autopsy and investigation done by the Netherlands Forensic Institute concluded that he most likely suffocated due to a crushed larynx, which was likely caused by a chokehold used on him during his arrest.
