Judge to hear arguments on Laundry’s motion to limit testimony in Gabby Petit’s civil trial

VENICE, Fla. (WFLA) – A Florida judge will hear arguments Tuesday on whether testimony given by Brian Londry’s parents will be barred in a civil lawsuit filed Gabi Petit parents.

Judge Hunter W. Carroll set a preliminary hearing in the lawsuit against Landry’s parents, Chris and Roberta, for 11:15 a.m. Tuesday. The hearing will be streamed on WFLA.com and on the WFLA app.

In October, Laundries filed a motion to limit depositions to events that occurred between Aug. 27, 2021 — the day Petite is believed to have been killed — and Sept. 19, 2021, the day her remains were found.

According to the petition, the laundries seek to avoid disclosure of “improper matters” to protect them from “annoyance, embarrassment, oppression, undue burden and expense.”

“This has been a truly heartbreaking experience for both families,” the statement said. “The public who followed this case and the plaintiffs are probably interested in learning about Brian Londry’s life, his final days, his communication with his parents, and the thoughts and feelings that his parents were going through. But curiosity is no reason to demand that respondents discuss such personal and intimate details. Rather, discovery must be relevant to the cause of action at issue.”

Pat Reilly, an attorney representing Petit’s parents, Joe Petit and Nicole Schmidt, called the motion “premature.”

“The motion for a protective order filed by attorneys on behalf of Christopher and Roberta Laundrey is premature because there have not yet been any issues in the deposition,” Pettitt and Schmidt’s attorney, Patrick Reilly, said in a statement to WFLA.com. “It seeks to limit any investigation to the very limited time period of 23 days in the lives of Christopher Lundry, Roberta Lundry and Brian Lundry, while at the same time the motion acknowledges that Florida’s discovery rules are liberal.”

“The petition alleges that any investigation beyond this 23-day window would cause annoyance, embarrassment, oppression or undue burden or expense to the laundry. This is yet another example of the Lundrey family refusing to give answers to Gabby Petit’s parents. We look forward to hearing this matter in court.”

Reilly says Pettitte and Schmidt will not be present at Tuesday’s hearing. Steve Bertalino, the Laundries’ attorney, says his clients won’t be at the hearing either.

“We’re just trying to limit the questioning to questions and time frames that are relevant to the claim,” Lundry family attorney Steven Bertalino told WFLA.com in October.

Judge Hunter W. Carroll heard arguments in June Laundry’s Motion to Dismiss Claim from going to a jury trial, but ruled against it. The hearing, attended by Petit’s parents but not the laundry, was Petit’s first trial.

Court records show a jury trial is scheduled for August 2023.

Brian Landry and Gabby Pettitte traveled cross-country in a van together in July 2021 before Landry returned home to North Port, Fla., without his fiancée, prompting an intense nationwide search for Pettitte.

During the search, the laundromat released a statement through their attorney saying they “hope that the search for Miss Petit will be successful and that Miss Petit will be reunited with her family.” Petito and Schmidt claim that the laundromats released this statement knowing that Gaby was dead and knowing where her body was.

Petit’s remains were found in September in Grand Titan National Park in Wyoming. After an exhaustive search led by the FBI, Laundry’s remains were found on the Carlton Nature Reserve in North Port. His death was later ruled a suicide from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Earlier this year, lawyers released eight-page notebook confession left by Brian, who gave his explanation for killing Petit.