Judge dismisses lawsuit against Moab police for Gabby Petito’s death
Nov 20, 2024, 12:15 PM | Updated: 1:09 pm
MOAB — A judge granted the defense’s motion to dismiss the family of Gabby Petito’s requested lawsuit against the Moab Police Department.
During a virtual hearing on Wednesday, the state argued that a lawsuit should not be filed against the Moab Police Department, while the Petito family’s attorney argued for a lawsuit.
In 2021, Petito was murdered by her fiance, Brian Laundrie. Before she died, the pair was in Moab, where police interaction with the couple is under scrutiny.
Both sides presented their reasoning as to why police should or should not be held accountable for Petito’s murder.
Her family asked the court to end police immunity in a 50-million-dollar lawsuit against the police department, noting days before she died, Moab police were called to a domestic violence complaint involving the pair.
The family thinks the responding officers did not take the complaint seriously.
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Petito’s family attorney, Judson Burton, argued that they placed belief in the officers they were handling the situation when their daughter told them police were involved. The attorney said there was a reliance there on the officers that ultimately let them down, and murder could have been prevented had police responded differently.
“So, there’s a reliance here. And that reliance, though reasonable, was misplaced. As we sent out in the complaint, the investigation was grossly negligent and so much so that it actually elevated the risk of harm to Gabby,” Burton said in court.
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Defending the state, attorney Mitchell Stephens referred to the timeline. He said on Aug. 12, Petito and Brian were in Moab, and while tragic, she was not killed until 38 days later in Wyoming.
He stated it is speculation to say Moab police could have stopped what ultimately happened to Petito and referred back to Cpt. Ratcliffe’s report, who led an investigation into what happened with the pair.
“Only speculation could answer that, and in fact, here’s what Capt. Ratcliffe wrote. ‘There are many what ifs that have been written as part of this investigation. Primary one being would Gabby be alive today if this case was handled differently? That’s an impossible question to answer. Nobody knows, and nobody will ever know how to answer that question,'” Stephens said.
Utah’s 7th District Court Judge Don Torgerson explained before dismissing the case that he is bound to follow the law as it currently exists and follow rulings of other courts — but the Court of Appeals has the authority to consider whether the governmental immunity law is constitutional.
The law firm representing Petito’s family wrote a statement saying it was not surprised by the ruling but is looking to move forward with the case.
“While the ruling today may feel like a setback, it was not unexpected. We never anticipated that this would be an easy process and look forward to the Utah Supreme Court upholding the Utah Constitution’s original intent to preserve the right to recover for wrongful death claims under these circumstances,” stated Parker & McConkie law firm.
