William Farrington
Brian Laundrie’s dad and mom claimed in a Wednesday courtroom submitting they have been exercising their constitutional proper to stay silent once they refused to talk to Gabby Petito’s dad and mom and whereas her death is “unfortunate,” they’ve completed nothing mistaken, information present.
Attorneys for the embattled couple filed to dismiss a civil lawsuit introduced by Petito’s dad and mom earlier this month that alleges the Laundries helped their son cowl up her death and knew the place the slain Long Island girl was all alongside.
The suit claims the couple’s silence and refusal to assist them observe down their daughter brought on emotional misery however attorneys for the Laundries mentioned their arguments are “fatally flawed” and need the case thrown out with prejudice, which might stop them from re-filing the declare.
“At its core, the Complaint is critical of the Laundries for ‘refus[ing] to respond to either Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt, or law enforcement.’ However, compelling individuals to respond to inquiries by private citizens or law enforcement through a civil action like this would turn our entire constitutional system and the freedom afforded individuals in this country on its head,” the movement, obtained by The Post, states.
“The [Petito family was] understandably fearful about what happened to their daughter and they would have been upset about their daughter regardless of anything the Laundries could have said. But that fear or sadness was not caused by the Laundries — it was an unfortunate, unavoidable part of the entire circumstances surrounding Brian Laundrie and Gabby Petito.”
Steven Bertolino, a longtime family good friend of the Laundries and their lawyer, referred to as the lawsuit “baseless and frivolous.”
“The Laundries have exercised their constitutional right to refrain from speaking and have relied on counsel to speak for them. This is not only common practice in our civilized community but it embodies the exercise of fundamental rights under the United States and Florida Constitutions,” Bertolino mentioned.
“The Laundries’ rights are inalienable and the Laundries can never be liable for exercising their legal rights in a permissible way. Myself and my colleagues at Trombley & Hanes, who are representing Chris and Roberta Laundrie in this matter, are confident that the constitutional rights of all citizens of this country will be protected by the dismissal of this lawsuit.”
Gabby, an aspiring journey blogger, set off on a cross nation highway journey along with her then-fiance Brian Laundrie final summer season however in September, the younger girl went lacking and shortly after, her companion returned residence to Florida with out her.
The New York native’s dad and mom begged the Laundrie family for assist and claimed of their lawsuit they knew the place Gabby was and have been trying to assist Brian depart the nation so he may keep away from arrest.
On Sept. 19, Gabby’s physique was discovered at a Wyoming campground and a health worker later dominated she’d been bludgeoned and strangled to death. While the FBI stopped in need of instantly saying Brian murdered her, they discovered he was the only real suspect in her demise.
Shortly after Brian returned to his mum or dad’s residence in North Port, Fla., he went lacking himself inside a large nature reserve till his stays have been present in late October. It was later decided he died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
