Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Judge Rules Against Gabby Petito Family in Moab Police Lawsuit

Starting point is 00:00:00 You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Can the family of murder victim, a beautiful young girl, Gabby Petito, bring a wrongful death lawsuit against the Moab Police Department for Gabby's death. If you will recall, Gabby and her killer slash fiance, Brian Laundrie hitting Gabby in the face. Yet after Brian Laundrie takes off in the car in Gabby Petito's Ford Transit, almost leaving her behind, she had to try and jump in the car window. He was leaving not only in her for transit, but everything she owned in the world. She had single-handedly customized the transit for a cross country trip. In the heat of the moment, after hitting her in the face,

Starting point is 00:01:19 he tries to drive off with her transit and all her worldly belongings. She finally gets in and not too far out of the city. She's pulled over along with Laundrie who's driving. And believe it or not, the Moab police name her as the aggressor and let them go. It was within hours that Gabby Petito was murdered by her violent fiance, Brian Laundrie. So, bottom line, can her family sue the Moab Police Department? Well, as of right now, believe it or not, the answer is no. But let me guarantee you, I predict this case ain't over yet and that it will become extremely complicated and contentious. Remember, this happened in Moab, Utah. The Utah 7th District Court Judge Don Torgerson agreed with the city of Moab. They requested that the Gabby Petito family motion be dismissed, and the judge went along with it.

Starting point is 00:02:40 He basically said, this is too big for a district court to decide and appeals courts will have to determine if the Petitos had a case. Now, many people argue that Judge Torgerson had no choice but grant the request to dismiss the case based on something called governmental immunity. It's also called sovereign immunity, which dates all the way back to our common law from Great Britain. The king can do no wrong. In other words, you can't sue the king and here you can't sue the government. So what the Petitos are asking is for the judge to rule against sovereign immunity. Well, I think everybody else is wrong. I think Torgerson could have gone along with the Petitos, but he hid behind his robes and decided not to act. Let's do a little reality check about what happened to Gabby Petito. Take a listen to our friend Jenna D'Angeles at CBS2. An emotional mother holding onto a photo of her daughter is desperate for her to come home.

Starting point is 00:03:58 Scary and it's nerve wracking. We don't sleep. We're just actively looking for her. Gabby Petito's family reported her missing Saturday to Suffolk County Police. The 22-year-old of Blue Point was on a cross-country road trip, but kept in touch with her mom. At least three times a week, we would FaceTime, call, text frequently. She kept me updated on this whole trip. Her mother says they last FaceTimed about three weeks ago. The last text she received was on August 30th. The first couple of days, I wasn't getting responses.

Starting point is 00:04:29 I believe she was in a place with no service. It was like day eight and nine that I really became concerned. I've been on that exact route before with the twins in an RV, and the mom is right. There are a lot of dead spots where you can't get a cell to call out. We're looking at behavioral evidence. How many days had passed before mom realized something was wrong? Take a listen to our friends at CBS2. Police say she's believed to have last been in Wyoming's Grand Teton National Park. Video of the trip was uploaded to YouTube August 19th. Her mother says she left New York early July for the trip, which was set to end in Oregon next month.

Starting point is 00:05:13 She was traveling in this white van, which police say has been recovered. I just believe she's in danger because she's not in touch with us. And she could be alone somewhere. She could be stranded somewhere in the wilderness. And she needs help. Well, is that what happened? Did she and her boyfriend have an argument and she stormed off? Did he just leave her stranded? My question is, why is he not being forthcoming and telling the story as to what happened to Gabrielle?

Starting point is 00:05:43 As I told you, the van is found in his parents' driveway back in Florida. But no, Gabby, how did it all start? Take a listen to April Baker, Fox 13. Gabby is originally from New York, but she was living in Florida with her fiance at the time they took off on the road trip back in July. Her family tells Fox News that the couple was touring national parks in a converted camper van before heading to Salt Lake City. The couple actually documented most of their trip on Instagram and YouTube. You're seeing it here, some of it showing them hanging out in a tent outside Capitol Reef. Gabby's mom, Nicole, says she last spoke on the phone with her daughter August 25th. That's very critical, as a matter of fact, because that travelogue video, which I have watched over and over and over,

Starting point is 00:06:33 it's called, I think, Nomadic Static with a K, Static with a K. And it's very engrossing. It makes you want to be with them on the camper, this beautiful, wonderful trip. But it's critical to me because her last Instagram posting linked to that video. And that's really the last day, as I understand the timeline, that we know her to be safe and alive about the video. Take a listen to her video, Van Life. Take a tiny listen. Gabby Petito never goes outside.

Starting point is 00:07:13 You know, you hear this beautiful, whimsical music throughout, and it shows them traveling the country. A lot of the shots are video as they're looking out the window as they're flying past desert. They went to the Delicate Arch. They went to the Mystic Hot Springs. They covered everything beautiful in the West. How did it all go so horribly wrong? With me, an all-star panel to try to make some sense of what we know right now. With me, a renowned trial attorney, you know her well, Kathleen Murphy, joining us out of North Carolina. You can find her at ncdomesticlaw.com. Karen Stark, you know her well. She is a psychologist joining us out of

Starting point is 00:07:59 Manhattan at karenstark.com. On Facebook, Karen Stark, That's with a C who has analyzed nearly every high profile criminal case that I can think of. Joining me, Lisa M. Daddio, former police lieutenant, New Haven Police Department lecturer and the director of the Center for Advanced Policing in New Haven and Emmy award winning investigative reporter, Christy Mazurik. Christy, let's start at the beginning. Tell me about how the road trip, or the inception of the road trip. They were living together in Florida, and this boyfriend promotes himself as a nature enthusiast. Wait, wait, wait, stop.

Starting point is 00:08:42 What do you mean promotes himself? Well, on Facebook and all of his other social media, he promotes himself as a nature enthusiast and believes that getting bug bites out in the beauty of the world are better than being brainwashed by the media. His words. What's wrong with that? You say it like there's something wrong with being a nature enthusiast. And I want to ask you, is nature enthusiast, are those your words or his words? His words. His words. And nature.

Starting point is 00:09:09 Can I ask you this? What does he do for a living other than be enthusiastic about nature? Working at Publix grocery store. Okay. All right. Oh, I'm glad you said that because they both worked at Publix, but that's not where they met. Okay. I'm interrupting.

Starting point is 00:09:24 You go ahead. They originally meet in New York State, and then he leaves with his parents to go to Florida. She follows a few years later. So earlier this summer, they decide that they are going to leave all of their valuables behind and transform this van into a mini camper, travel up to see her brother graduate in New York State, and then cross the country on this excursion. Now, it's my understanding, Christy, Missouri, they knew each other way back, way back home in Suffolk County. Then she goes, then they meet each other again years later.

Starting point is 00:10:05 It's like meeting an old high school friend. And they fall in love. He moves to Florida. She comes down with him. Her father, her bio dad, also moves to Florida to be near her. The mom and her new husband stay in New York, is my understanding. And then they travel back to New York for her little brother's high school graduation. And from there, they commence the road trip.

Starting point is 00:10:35 Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. In the last hours, a judge dismisses Gabby Petito's family suit against the Moab police. I think it's completely wrong, but it happened. A Disha Court judge dismissed the case against the Moab police department. Now, Judson Burton, who is Gabby's family lawyer, argued the ability to file a suit like this is built into the Utah constitution and that the government immunity, as I was describing earlier, sovereign immunity is unconstitutional, completely unconstitutional. Now the judge, as I've seen so many times before, this is Judge Don Torgerson, goes to great lengths to explain,

Starting point is 00:11:36 before he dismissed it, how he had to follow the law. Well, if this is the law, then the law is an ass. Okay? And Torgerson went along with it. What happened? Karen Stark, it looks like something off HGTV where they have people that live, they redo a little house or a house on wheels or traveling campers and you're on the road. And it's so amazing.

Starting point is 00:12:03 And it's escapist. But this was their real life gabby gabrielle um and boyfriend laundry go on this once in a lifetime fantastic trip and they video blog it and the blog is engrossing and one part part, Karen, I mean, I watched the whole thing, which is rare for me. She's in her tent. She says, we're going to hang out at the campsite today. And it all looks so cozy and perfect. And you can see this beautiful natural scenery that most of us just dream of seeing one day

Starting point is 00:12:39 in the background. And then one day it's raining and she's holding the tent up like that because she says the rain's coming in and she's laughing. She's just so happy. And it makes you want to go along with them. She's got a very inviting personality. She's totally engrossing. And the whole trip, the only thing, that's what makes it so mysterious

Starting point is 00:13:02 and upsetting to think about how beautiful it's coming across and she's totally disappeared. And Nancy, when you watch that, the only thing that you can find is that she talks about how precarious it is, that they like to climb and they really like to climb things that are difficult. You know, that's so funny. Funny, odd. I was up super early this morning studying about Gabrielle Gabby and was discussing it with my friend Medea. And she said, well, what if they were posing on a cliff and Gabby fell off? And my response was, that could possibly have happened. But why would he get in the van and come all the way back home to Florida?

Starting point is 00:13:50 Is it North Port or North Point, Christy Mazurik? It's North Port. Port. Port. Nancy, to your point about the, you know, cliff climbing. On August 23rd, Gabby did post on Instagram that the pair were doing adventurous and risky hikes through some dangerous terrain during their stay. That was one of her last posts. You know, back to you, Karen, with that knowledge, you know, Chrissy Mazurka is right. The hiking was very precarious. As a matter of fact,

Starting point is 00:14:27 if that happened, why would he drive all the way back to North Port, Florida, which I think is Sarasota County, and not say a word to anybody if she fell off a cliff? Or even if they had an argument, Karen, and she's like, I'm not going anymore. This is it, and leaves. Number one, why would he leave her stranded if that's what happened? But two, come all the way back home and not tell everybody what happened. Either this is really a nefarious character and he planned something all along, or he went into shock. Something really did happen to her and he couldn't cope with it. He didn't know how to handle it. Karen, Karen, Karen, Karen, Karen, Karen.

Starting point is 00:15:10 If he could drive across country and operate a van, having to stop, I guess, for gas or food, that's not in shock. To me, when you're in shock, you can't think straight. Not necessarily. He could get himself home. He could have punished. And that's the only thing I could think of that would make sense out of it unless he actually had planned all along to do something.

Starting point is 00:15:36 I don't believe that there was a plan all along to do something. I don't believe that. Guys, take a listen to our cut five. I love the band so we are right outside cappled reef right now in a free dispersed camp spot and we've been lucky so far at all the places we've stayed but i'd say this is one of the best so far since we left new york i've only set up my hammock once. And now we're all the way in Utah. And luckily enough, I was able to set up my hammock in one of these trees.

Starting point is 00:16:09 And we're kind of like in the desert. Very few trees. It just sounds so beautiful. And I also noticed straight out to you, Kathleen Murphy, North Carolina trial lawyer. Kathleen, I noticed throughout, he spoke very little. It's mostly her shooting the video and speaking. He did occasionally speak, but I want to know what you make of it, Kathleen. Well, first Nancy, I went and tried to do a deep dive on who this guy is and all of his social media accounts. There's nothing prior to meeting this young lady.

Starting point is 00:16:43 I knew nothing about him except what he is like with this young lady. I did. And it's concerning to me that we don't know much. And, you know, I have a daughter about the same age, and I know her boyfriend pretty well. And I went and deep-dived on his social media account. I can't find anything about this young guy before he met this girl. How old is he? Well, from what we understand, he is a 23-year-old young man. That's my understanding of his age, Kathleen. 23? He looks

Starting point is 00:17:14 a lot older on his pictures, but it seems to me that he would have high school pictures and work pictures and family pictures out there, but I didn't find anything. And so I don't really know if the family knows much about him. Well, I would think that they do, Christy Mazur, because my understanding of how the two knew each other is they knew each other previously. And there's not much previously. She's only 22. So she had to know him in high school or college. She had to know him at that point.

Starting point is 00:17:53 Then they reconnect and then fall in love. And that's my understanding. So the family had to know him if she knew him in her past. She's only 22. Correct. They did go to high school together and they knew Brian in passing. In passing. Then when they reconnected, they kind of gave the duo their blessing. That's why her biological father moved down to Florida to be close to them. Listen to Nicole Schmidt, who's Gabby's mother, and Jim Schmidt, her stepfather, at their most recent press conference. When she left, what did she say? Like, bye, Mom. Did you say, I'm excited? What did she, what was it like? at their most recent press conference. What were they wanting to do? Camping, hiking, seeing the country. When was she coming back? How long was the trip?

Starting point is 00:18:50 The trip was supposed to end in October in Portland, Oregon. And what was the last conversation you had with her on video chat? What did she say? I believe it was around the 23rd and, or the 24th, I can't recall. But she was having a great time. She said she was headed up to Wyoming. So the last time that we see her, they were FaceTiming to my understanding, was around, let's give it the benefit of the doubt, August 24. She was not reported missing by her family until September 11. Why? Well, you heard the mother stating that she thought Gabby had gone into a remote area where there's no cell phone coverage.

Starting point is 00:19:35 So she chalked it off. Now they were speaking every three days or so by FaceTime. And her bio dad was also speaking to her. So the first three days pass and she thinks, well, she's in a bad cell area. Then we get to the next three days and she still does not hear from her. So you go August 24, you pass six days, you're now at August 30. Then she finds out, to my understanding, that the boyfriend comes back home on September 11 in the van with no Gabby. That is when she, not the boyfriend, reports Gabby missing. I don't like it. I don't like it one bit. A judge has granted the defense motion to dismiss the family of Gabby Petito's lawsuit against Moab Police Department. It was a virtual hearing in the last hours. The state argued a lawsuit like this should not be filed against the Moab PD because of sovereign immunity.

Starting point is 00:20:40 The king can do no wrong. It's a holdover from Anglo-Saxon common law that we brought with us when we settled America from Great Britain. Well, I got a curveball for you, Judge. If this is the law, then the law is to ask. Do I need to jog your memory, Judge Torgerson, about what happened to Gabby Petito? Okay, I will. I want you to take a listen to what we know about the van showing up. Take a listen to our Cut 24. It's Evan Axelbank, our friends at Fox 13. Police found the van that they were potentially by the boyfriend's parents. They're now processing that. They've towed it away and are looking through it for any evidence they can find.

Starting point is 00:21:25 Family in New York say that Gabrielle Poteto was on a cross-country trip leaving Long Island on July 2nd. They were headed to Oregon but stoppering numerous places along the way, documenting their journey in their van on YouTube. Family last spoke with her August 24th or 25th and last texted with her August 30th. She was reported missing this weekend, September 11th, and they may have reached as far as Grand Teton National Park. What happened that fateful moment when Moab police ignored all the signs that Gabby Petito was a domestic violence victim, named her the aggressor, and sent her along her way with her killer. Body cam video. Let's go, Tyler.

Starting point is 00:22:16 If you could play cut 208. This is Adrienne Banker at News Nation Now. Body camera video has been released from Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie's heated exchange in Utah back in August. And Petito admits she hit Laundrie first, but that then he grabbed her face after and dug his nails into her face. The officer is heard on this camera footage, this video footage, telling Laundrie that he is the victim of domestic assault. The police chief has taken a sudden leave of absence,

Starting point is 00:22:45 and now the city is looking into how the police officers involved handled the situation when they were called to stop there with Gabby and with Brian, and many people criticizing this incident because the police called Brian the victim in this situation. Let me go straight out to Marcia Saidi joining us, WFLA-TV. How come we didn't see that body cam video to start with? Great question. Great question and a question that we're asking.

Starting point is 00:23:13 And another question, is there any other body cam video that we haven't seen yet? There's a female law enforcement officer on that scene. And she is, according to the two body cam videos that we have seen already, she does appear to be talking with Gabby alone while Gabby is in the back of that police cruiser. You know, sometimes a girl might reveal more information to another woman. So it'd be very interesting to see if there's any other body cam video and feel free to chime in. But I did think I saw possibly a camera on her uniform. So that's

Starting point is 00:23:45 one big question. But really, the new thing that happened when this video was released, the officer says, quote, did he hit you, though? And she says, I guess, yeah, but I hit him first. And she kind of breaks down. She says he grabbed my face. He didn't punch me, but he grabbed me with his nail. I definitely have a cut. I can feel it when I touch it. It burns. So this is what was new. Gabby's saying very clearly that he also assaulted her in this way. This is something that we did not hear as clearly.

Starting point is 00:24:16 Let's try to play the entirety of cut 211, the Moab Police Department, second body cam footage that we didn't see initially. What happened after he locked you out? Until you took a breather? Well, he walked away to go take his own breather, but I wanted to sit in the car because all my stuff was in the car. I had to run my bag.

Starting point is 00:24:37 I was working on something at the moment in the car, and he told me to just relax for a second, and I didn't want to relax so I got mad. I mean, I don't need to be mad. Yeah, it happens. Then what happened? I don't know. And I told him that I wouldn't get water because I was getting dirty. Yeah? Is there something on your cheek here? It Looks like, did you get hit in the face?

Starting point is 00:25:06 Kind of looks like something hit you in the face. And then over on your arm, shoulder, right here. That's new, huh? It's kind of a new mark. Oh, yeah, I don't know. Can I see the other side of your face? So, what happened here and here? I'm not sure.

Starting point is 00:25:24 It was a... What happened here and here? I'm not sure. So the backpack got you? So she has a bruise and a cut on her face, a bruise on her left arm, yet she was deemed the aggressor. If Laundrie had been arrested right then and there for domestic violence in Moab, would Gabby be alive today? I'm Dr. Brent Lou, Teton County, Wyoming coroner. After a detailed investigation by our forensic pathologists, our anthropologists, and local law enforcement, with assistance from the FBI, the Teton County Coroner's Office is filing a 4-1 verdict. In the manner of death of Gabrielle Lenora Petito, we find the cause and manner of the cause, death by strangulation, and manner is homicide. To investigative reporter with WFLA-TV,

Starting point is 00:26:25 joining me right now, Mazza Saidi, on the case from the very beginning. Were you surprised at all with what the coroner said? Strangulation death. I mean, it has been just an absolutely heartbreaking day. We know that the Petito family knew this was coming, that officials were in touch with them. But as you said, we just learned from the Teton County coroner that Gabby Petito was strangled. It's unclear if it was manual or with an object. We also learned that her body had been outside in the wilderness, likely for three to four weeks before it was discovered. We had no other information about her remains, as you mentioned right off the top, Nancy, about any potential prior injuries, if the body had been moved, none of that. The Teton County Coroner, Dr. Brent Blue, kept saying that his job was only to determine the cause of death

Starting point is 00:27:14 and the manner of death. Reporters were peppering him with tons of questions. Everyone was asking him about Brian Laundrie, about the potential suspect, and he kept saying that he could reveal nothing about the suspect. But then he made a statement that to me was stunning. He said, unfortunately, and I'm quoting here, he said, this is only one of many deaths around the country of people who are involved in domestic violence. And when he said that, that just struck me, because he said he couldn't reveal anything about the suspect.

Starting point is 00:27:45 But then he made that statement. To Dr. Angela Arnold, psychiatrist joining us out of Atlanta at AngelaArnoldMD.com. What do you think? We have finally learned the cause of death, not manner, cause. She was strangled and I guarantee you it was manual. When I say manual v. ligature, I mean ligature is with a pair of pantyhose or a stocking or a scarf. Manual is with your hands. Go ahead, doctor. Nancy, this is what I have been saying all along. True. The domestic violence, the intimate partner

Starting point is 00:28:18 violence that was going on, he slapped her. That was the last thing we saw. We have it on. They have him admitting to that strangulation. Strangulation happens over time. OK, the violence becomes more severe. This is what was going on in this situation. My thought is, I don't know, maybe they had another altercation in the van. You think? You think? What about that warden, the female warden, that said, hey, you need to rethink whether you want to go forward with this guy. It's toxic. Do you remember that, Cheryl? Nancy, I remember it, and that's one of the things that makes me

Starting point is 00:28:57 so heartbroken. I mean, now you've got complete strangers coming up to her and saying, hey, little girl, this is bad. You need to get out of this. And now she's dead by manual strangulation? There's two things that happened in that incident. That female officer saying to her, your relationship seems toxic. And during that event, right there on the side of the road, her calling her parents. Let's look back at that Moab August 12 incident, as it's been being called, when finally

Starting point is 00:29:27 she revealed that Brian Laundrie grabbed her by the face. And I can just see that hand going down to her neck. I mean, can anybody but me visualize this happening to her? I mean, she's basically told us what happened. And you know what Laundrie said, Nancy? Laundrie said that she lost her balance but was able to scratch his face, just what we were talking about before. So both of them, in some sense,

Starting point is 00:29:56 give us some of the clues that we're looking for now. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. crime stories with nancy grace gabby's family begged the court to end police immunity not for the whole government but just police immunity in a 50 million million lawsuit against the Moab PD, noting that before she died, Moab police were called to a domestic violence complaint involving the pair. Gabby's family insists responding officersif, weighs about 105 pounds versus Brian Laundrie approaching 200 pounds. She was the aggressor. Did they miss every classic symptom of battering that she was abused, the denial, the hysterical crying, the desire not to be separated, the taking the blame herself, explaining away her own injuries, ignoring the 911 call that

Starting point is 00:31:16 had just happened where a witness outside, I believe the Moonflower Co-op Cafe saw Brian Laundrie hitting her in the face on the street in broad daylight. And still, even with that knowledge, called her the aggressor. Okay, you know what? I want you to take a listen to, it's very, very disturbing to me. It's our cut 428. It's Nate Carlisle at Fox 13. Here on what's labeled page two, the captain takes a moment to ponder, would Gabby be alive today if this case was handled differently? That is an impossible question to answer.

Starting point is 00:32:00 For his part, Pratt told the captain he worried taking Petito to jail would embolden laundry. So if he's going to go bail her out, is he not going to have more control over her now, Pratt's quoted as saying. Moab said it would adopt the recommendations to improve training and add a domestic violence specialist to oversee incidents investigated by its officers. So they're still sticking with. They're going down with the ship. They refuse to admit they screwed up. They had laundry. They did nothing and they let him go. And now she's dead. Jump in, Dale. When I used to teach domestic violence at police academies in Florida, one of the things that's mandated, certainly in Florida, and is now mandated everywhere, is to arrest one of the parties. And there's even legislation that

Starting point is 00:32:51 prohibits individuals from suing the police if they arrest the wrong person. So back at that time that this happened, they should have arrested either one or both of these individuals. And that would have resolved the problem, at least for the the moment tell me about the moab police and the investigation by the neighboring county i believe it was price county yeah it was price police who did the investigation the moab police department is very small and and then the chief takeaways from the investigation into their handling of the traffic stop or the domestic violence stop was that these officers involved need more training and they should go back on probation. And, you know, it's a small department. They're probably not as trained as a lot of the big city departments we're used to dealing with. So they're they're saying hindsight is 20 20. We had no idea that Brian was a killer.

Starting point is 00:33:41 And that's that's the point that they're sticking to. Well, I agree with that. I agree with them on that. But in this day and age, I mean, women are beaten all across the world. It doesn't matter if you're in a small town or a big city like New York City. It doesn't matter if you dropped out of school in the sixth grade or if you've got your Ph.D. It doesn't matter if you make $200,000 a year or you make $30,000 a year or if you have one child, no children or six children. It doesn't matter. Women are abused, beaten senseless across the board. None of that socioeconomic distinctions,

Starting point is 00:34:21 none of them matter. Period. That has been proven statistically. So the fact that Moab police is a small jurisdiction, does that mean the women there aren't getting beaten behind closed doors? No, it does not. And right there on the main street, Michael Ruiz, we have a witness calling 911 that Gabby is getting beaten basically on Main Street in broad daylight. What? They couldn't check that out and figure out this is Gabby? So I spoke with quite a few experts on the legal side and the law enforcement side. And, you know, they found the report a little bit lacking. They thought the findings might not have been as severe as they could be.

Starting point is 00:35:05 Okay, let's talk about what you just said, Michael Ruiz. Okay. Okay. Let me get to my notes. Um, I never saw any photos that they took of Gabby's injury to her face. They mention it in their body cam, but I didn't see any video. Did you? So they talk about them. Yeah, you're right. They talk about them in the body cam, but there's no documentation of that. So they take pictures of Brian Laundrie and his injury, but not Gabby. Yes, no. Right. Okay. Did they contact the 911 caller who reported the Brian Laundrie attack on Gabby? Did they call him, Michael Ruiz?

Starting point is 00:35:48 So we found out from this report, they circled back with one witness, but that witness was not the 911 caller. So then that would be a no. They did not contact the 911 caller. Not the one who said he saw the gentleman. I think the quote was, I saw the gentleman slapping the lady, is what the 911 caller? Not the one who said he saw the, I think the quote was, I saw the gentleman slapping the lady is what the 911 caller said. Did they mention Gabby's injuries in their written report? To the best of my memory, I didn't see anything about her injuries. No, the answer is no, they did not. Did they understand state law requirements for a claim of domestic assault. Michael Ruiz. I would think so because Officer Pratt even said so in his own body cam. He said, you know, the reason this law is on the books that we have to arrest one is because down the line someone's going to get killed. The domestic violence, domestic assault law in that jurisdiction, it seems like they had skimmed it, but didn't really know what they were doing.

Starting point is 00:36:47 In fact, in the final findings, they state the officers misunderstood state law requirements for domestic assault. Did they ever consider or write in their report that Brian Laundrie could be considered the potential suspect, or was it always Gabby? In the initial police report, it was Gabby. In the review from Price, the captain who wrote that report said that there was evidence that Gabby was a long-term victim of domestic abuse. So in the officer's initial report, at the moment, they could have stopped Brian Laundrie and maybe prevented Gabby's murder. They never considered Brian Laundrie as a

Starting point is 00:37:32 potential suspect. Is that correct? From the initial reports, that's how it seems. Did they ever connect either of them with mental health caregivers, such as even a volunteer like me at the Battered Women's Center. It's a toll-free number. I manned the hotline for nine years. Did they ever do that, Michael Ruiz? It doesn't look like they did. They did bring Brian to a hotel through a charity for domestic victims.

Starting point is 00:38:02 They checked him into the hotel through that charity. But in the report from Price, we see that they didn him into the hotel through that charity. But in the report from Price, we see that they didn't connect them with professionals. They didn't give them documentation. So the answer would be no, would it not? I guess not. Dr. Bethany Marshall, what are the classic symptoms of a domestic violence victim? And don't get me wrong. I know that there are some men that are battered and abused but they

Starting point is 00:38:26 are about one one and a half percent of the entire uh partner battering universe so let's just get real women are the victims what are the symptoms that gabby patito displayed dr bethany well everything she displayed i mean protecting the abuser, minimizing the harm done to her, self-blame, not telling a cohesive history about what had been done to her. The fact is that she owns her part in the conflict. She says she's punched him in the arm, but she minimizes that she punched him in the arm because she was so frustrated and he was driving erratically. He was taking her van and her cell phone. Exactly.

Starting point is 00:39:12 And that you you put it more beautifully that I was trying to collect my thoughts on. I know he had taken the van. I know he had taken the cell phone. Well, that was that would be the final sign. Denial. Denial that she is a domestic violence victim. Her injuries. The fact that she tried to minimize, as you said, Dr. Bethany, the damage to her.

Starting point is 00:39:35 I mean, it goes on and on and on. The classic signs that she is a domestic violence victim. Saying would it have stopped Gabby's murder is like reading the tea leaves, but I know this, there would have been a much better chance that she survived if she had gotten battered women's counseling, even over the phone with a volunteer at the shelter. Even that could have saved her life. But the officers, to make themselves feel better, I guess, keep saying, well, you know, we don't think it would have made a difference, really. Well, you'll never know because you screwed it up. Take a listen to our cut 427, Nate Cronile, Fox 13.

Starting point is 00:40:17 If I had any discretion in this, I would separate you guys from the day and just give you warnings to stop hitting each other. But I lawfully don't have discretion here. Yet veteran Moab police officer Eric Pratt and the new officer he was training, Daniel Robbins, did let Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie go. The report by a Price, Utah police captain says that, by law, Petito should have been cited or arrested once officers determined she was the aggressor. The captain sustained, or confirmed, multiple complaints where Pratt and Robbins failed to follow the law and Moab's own policies, including failing to obtain witness statements and properly documenting the roadside investigation.

Starting point is 00:40:58 So give me your finals. Go ahead, Dale. There's a 50% reduction in homicides in domestic violence cases if one of the parties is arrested. That's the statistic that led to all this legislation. Bethany. And I would say if one of the classic signs of abuse is leaving a woman alone in a deserted place without resources, then all three men abused her. In the last hours, a judge has ruled in the favor of Moab Police Department. Listen, I'm from L.A. Law Enforcement. I believe in law enforcement. I support law enforcement.

Starting point is 00:41:47 However, what happened that day was wrong. In the last hours, a judge rules in favor of Moab Police Department against the family of Gabby Petito. As I said earlier, it ain't over yet. Goodbye. You're listening to an iHeart podcast

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Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Judge Rules Against Gabby Petito Family in Moab Police Lawsuit

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