Laundrie Attorney, Bertolino, Files Motion To Dismiss Petito Lawsuit

SARASOTA COUNTY, FL — Steven Bertolino, an attorney for Brian Laundrie’s parents, filed a motion Monday asking a Florida judge to dismiss a civil lawsuit filed against him by Gabby Petito’s parents.

Their daughter was killed at the hands of her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, in August 2021. He strangled her to death and left her body at a Wyoming campsite while they were on a cross-country trip.

Laundrie later took his own life, shooting himself in the head in a Sarasota County park in September of that year. His remains and a handwritten confession to killing Petito were found in October 2021.

During a nationwide search for Petito, before her body was found, Bertolino, a New York-based attorney, spoke publicly on behalf of Laundrie’s parents.

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Last spring, her parents, Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt, sued the Laundries for intentional infliction of emotional distress, claiming they knew that their daughter was dead and where her body was during a national search for her.

A judge approved the family’s amended complaint naming Bertolino as a co-defendant in the lawsuit in January. The case will go before a jury next summer.

Monday’s court filing by Bertolino’s attorney called a dismissal of the lawsuit against him.

“There are no facts that could support this cause of action against Mr. Bertolino and the court should dismiss the claims asserted against him…with prejudice,” attorney Charles J. Meltz wrote.

Petito’s parents’ claim that a Sept. 14, 2021, comment issued by Bertolino on behalf of the Laundries gave them false hope that their daughter might still be alive. They claim all three knew at that point that the 22-year-old was dead.

The Laundries’ statement, issued by Bertolino at the time, read, “This is understandably an extremely difficult time for both the Petito family and the Laundrie family. It is our understanding that a search has been organized for Miss Petito in or near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. On behalf of the Laundrie family, it is our hope that the search for Miss Petito is successful and that Miss Petito is re-united with her family.”

In his motion to dismiss, Meltz wrote, “There are no material facts pled which even remotely establish that Mr. Bertolino acted with an intent to cause severe emotional distress or with reckless disregard. Alternatively, even if the court were to find that the conduct would otherwise be extreme and outrageous, it is privileged under the circumstances, as Mr. Bertolino was doing nothing more than acting as the Laundries’ attorney and exercising their legal rights in a permissible way. Additionally, as an attorney representing the Laundrie family, who was actively involved in an acute legal situation, Mr. Bertolino has an absolute privilege with respect to statements made as the Laundries’ attorney on their behalf.”