Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
- Utah Judge Don Torgerson dismissed Gabby Petito's family's wrongful death lawsuit against Moab police.
- The judge cited governmental immunity for the dismissal and declined to dismiss the case based on the officer's conduct.
- Petito's family's attorney argued the immunity statute is unconstitutional and plans to appeal the dismissal.
MOAB — A wrongful death lawsuit filed by Gabby Petito's parents against the Moab Police Department was dismissed on Wednesday, but the issue isn't over.
Judson Burton, the parents' attorney, argued the ability to file a wrongful death claim was built into Utah's constitution and the governmental immunity statute it was dismissed under is unconstitutional.
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.
He ruled the police department does have governmental immunity from the lawsuit, saying "I don't see how they are possibly exempted."
Torgerson did, however, rule the lawsuit from Petito's parents did meet the standard required early in a case to show that Moab's officers' conduct could have been a cause of her death, saying, at this stage, inferences are made in favor of the person who filed the case.
Gabby Petito, a 22-year-old self-proclaimed travel influencer who was traveling the country in a van with her fiancé, was reported missing on Sept. 11, 2021, a few weeks after Moab Police spoke with them regarding a domestic violence incident.
Her body was found on Sept. 19 that year at the Spread Creek Dispersed Camping Area in Wyoming's Bridger-Teton National Forest. Investigators ruled Petito died from blunt force trauma and strangulation.
Her fiancé, Brian Laundrie went missing following the discovery. In a notebook later found near his body at a nature preserve in Sarasota County, Florida, Laundrie admitted to killing Gabby Petito. An autopsy showed Laundrie died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Petito's parents, Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt, filed a lawsuit against Moab Police in November 2022. Their attorney, Burton, argued on Wednesday that Gabby Petito called her parents during the interaction with police and they wanted her to come home, but Gabby assured them the police would take care of things.
The attorney said her parents relied on the police to handle the situation, but they say a "grossly negligent" investigation increased the chances of their daughter being harmed. He said officers placed Gabby Petitio in a police car and sympathized with Laundrie, laughing with him, which could have emboldened him. He said one of the responding officers explained the risk of domestic violence situations, showing he understood but did not follow the proper response.
Mitchell Stephens, the attorney representing the Moab Police Department, argued that the case must be dismissed due to governmental immunity, but he also said arguments about Moab's involvement in her death are completely speculative.
He said the couple left Moab together and traveled for about a month before her death. He cited multiple instances where courts have not found police at fault when domestic violence escalated to murder.
"Moab is not liable for criminal conduct that occurred a month later in a different state. Brian Laundrie is the cause of Gabby Petito's death," Stephens said.
Torgerson dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning if appellate courts affirm his decision Petito's parents can't file the lawsuit again.
