Brian Laundrie's parents ask a court to dismiss the lawsuit filed by the family of Gabby Petito
CTV
In a motion filed Wednesday, the parents of Brian Laundrie asked a Florida court to dismiss a civil lawsuit brought by Gabby Petito's parents earlier this month.
In their lawsuit, Petito's parents alleged the Laundries knew that their son killed Petito and were working to help him flee the country. Their lawsuit alleges Laundrie told his parents about killing Petito around August 28 and that the Laundries refused to respond to Petito's family or law enforcement when they inquired whether the 22-year-old woman was alive.
"Christopher Laundrie and Roberta Laundrie knew of the mental suffering and anguish of Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt, and knew that they could alleviate, at least in part, such mental suffering and anguish by disclosing what they knew about the well-being and the location of the remains of Gabrielle Petito, yet they repeatedly refused to do so," the lawsuit says.
The motion to dismiss filed this week says the Laundries had "fundamental constitutional rights to silence," adding that the family had a "general constitutional right not to speak on any topic and a more specific constitutional right not to speak in the face of a criminal investigation."
In a statement sent to CNN, Laundrie family attorney Steven Bertolino called the Petitos' lawsuit "baseless and frivolous."
