A Utah judge on Wednesday dismissed a wrongful death suit filed against the Moab Police Department in the 2021 death of Gabby Petito but said an appellate court might have more leeway to pry apart the case’s minutiae.
“The existing case law applies governmental immunity and extends the reach of governmental immunity in this kind of case to the Moab Police Department and Moab City,” Seventh District Court Judge Don Torgerson said, according to KUTV. “As municipalities, they are governmental entities performing governmental function, and under the case law as it exists, I don’t see how they are possibly exempted.”
“With respect to causation, I’m going to make a ruling here so it can be reviewed on appeal,” he added. I” do think the plaintiffs have made a prima facie case, that Moab’s officers’ conduct here could have been a cause of death – not necessarily the cause of death, but a cause of death.”
Moab police officers pulled over the van driven by Petito and her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie, after a 911 caller reported seeing Laundrie hit Petito, as CrimeOnline reported. The officers questioned the pair but ultimately determined that Petito was the aggressor and let them go, Laundrie to a hotel room they arranged for him while Petito took the van.
Two weeks later, Laundrie returned to his parents home in Florida without Petito, whose body was later found in Wyoming. Laundrie headed into a Florida swamp and shot himself, leaving behind notebook entry that admitted his responsibility for Petito’s death.
Petito’s family filed the lawsuit in November 2022, claiming that if the Moab officers had done a better job of handling a domestic violence situation, Petito might still be alive.
Their attorney, James McConkie, called it “an instituational failure, plain and simple,” KUTV said.
Petito’s family issued a statement after Torgerson’s ruling saying that 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,” they said. “We remain committed to pursuing justice for Gabby and thank the many people who have continued to support us in that fight.”
Read more about the Petito case from CrimeOnline.
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[Featured image: Gabby Petito talks with Moab Police officers during the traffic stop in question/Moab Police Department]
