Moab police are asking for the lawsuit to be dismissed

Moab • Seventh Judicial District Court Judge Don Torgerson will hear a motion for summary judgment in a wrongful death lawsuit against Moab police filed by attorneys for Gabby Petito’s parents.

If granted, the case would essentially be dismissed — an outcome that plaintiff’s attorney Brian Stewart said would not be surprising given Utah’s government immunity clause, which protects police officers from liability in the event of assault or injury, even if it results in death.

Petito was murdered in August 2021 in Wyoming by her boyfriend Brian Laundrie. Two weeks earlier, the couple was involved in a domestic violence incident in which Moab police failed to arrest one or both of them, violating state domestic violence laws and department policy. They separated the two at night to give them time to calm down.

In November 2022, Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt, through Salt Lake City-based Parker & McConkie, announced they would be filing for $50 million wrongful death lawsuit against Moab police.

Attorneys for the Moab Police Department filed the motion for summary judgment last April, and Parker & McConkie filed an objection in response in July. Torgerson will hear the motion on Wednesday, November 20 in Moab.

In their motion for summary judgment, MPD attorneys argued that Utah’s Government Immunity Act “precludes Moab (police department) from being held liable for Laundrie’s brutal crime.”

There is a three-part test to determine whether the law applies, they wrote in court documents, assessing “whether the activity undertaken is a government function, whether government immunity for the specific activity has been waived; and whether there is an exception to this exemption. A simple application of these factors confirms that the plaintiff’s claims must be dismissed.”

According to attorneys for both sides, the Utah Supreme Court has ruled in several cases that immunity applies in cases of assault, battery and even death “even if the assault or injuries occur as a result of the negligence of the state or state agent.”

Attorneys for the Moab Police Department also argue that “even without” Utah’s Government Immunity Act, the claims against MPD should still be dismissed. They allege that plaintiffs have “repeatedly” invoked another law, the Cohabitant Abuse Procedures Act, which they claim states: “A peace officer shall not be held liable in a civil action brought by a party to a incident of domestic violence for making or failing to make an arrest or for issuing a citation.”

They also point out that Moab police separated the couple for a night and that Petito’s murder happened two weeks later, hundreds of miles away.

Parker & McConkie attorneys argued in court documents that Utah’s Government Immunity Act applies only to state entities and not municipalities.

Stewart told The Times-Independent that it’s possible Judge Torgerson could grant the MPD’s motion for summary judgment under Utah’s Government Immunity Act, an outcome he said is “very possible” given how to which the Utah Supreme Court has responded in similar cases. the past. If so, they will appeal on behalf of Petito’s parents, Stewart said.

This story was first published by The Times Independent.