A Florida judge denied Brian Laundrie's family's motions to dismiss the civil lawsuit against it in the death of Gabby Petito.
Petito's body was discovered in September 2021, and her cause of death was revealed to be strangulation. Brian Laundrie, her boyfriend at the time, committed suicide after confessing in a notebook that he killed Petito.
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The civil lawsuit, filed in May 2022 against Laundrie's parents and Steven Bertolino, their attorney, argues that the Laundries knew that Petito was dead when they issued a statement on Sept. 14, 2021, that they hoped she would be reunited with her family. At the time, Petito's disappearance was still considered a missing person case. Her body was discovered five days after the Laundries' statement was released.
The Laundries and Bertolino filed motions to dismiss the civil lawsuit, but Florida Judge Danielle Brewer ruled on Wednesday that the trial would move forward.
"Today’s ruling does not determine what happened to Gabby Petito. Instead, today’s ruling is technical in nature. It determines only whether Gabby Petito’s parents (the Plaintiffs) stated a valid claim against ... [the defendants]," Brewer wrote, according to court documents via the Patch.
Bertolino was named a co-defendant in the civil lawsuit alleging that he inflicted emotional distress. Under Florida law, plaintiffs must prove deliberate or reckless infliction of mental suffering, outrageous conduct, the conduct caused emotional distress, and the distress was severe.
In his motion to dismiss, Bertolino argued he did not intend to cause emotional distress to Petito's family and that there was no outrageous conduct in releasing a statement wishing Petito would be reunited with her family.
"Reasonable inferences could also be made that 'reunited with her family' means that Petito would be reunited with her family alive," Brewer wrote in her ruling, dismissing Bertolino's claims.
Bertolino also claimed that his conduct was privileged and that he should have immunity for his representation, which Brewer also dismissed.
"While it is true that this inference may be made, it is also reasonable to infer based on the Second Amended Complaint that the Laundrie defendants were not facing litigation at the time of the alleged conduct," Brewer wrote. "Therefore, while Defendant Bertolino may utilize the litigation privilege and the immunity that follows as an affirmative defense, it does not act to defeat Plaintiffs’ causes of action at this stage."
In a statement to multiple outlets, Bertolino said he is "disappointed" about the situation.
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"At this stage of the process, the plaintiffs’ allegations have to be accepted as true and the court can not consider anything not contained in the complaint,” the attorney said. “As the process moves forward I am confident that the plaintiffs’ will not be able to provide the proof necessary to support their baseless allegations.”
The jury trial will now take place on May 13 after being scheduled originally for Aug. 14, 2023. Petito's family is also seeking all of the communications between Laundrie and his parents through "any form of messaging service and/or apps" between Aug. 27, 2021, and the time of Laundrie's death.