VENICE, Fla. — The parents of Brian Laundrie, Christopher and Roberta Laundrie, filed to limit depositions in the civil suit filed by Gabby Petito's family, according to court records filed in Sarasota County.
Attorneys for the Laundrie parents filed a motion to limit the extent of their deposition "in order to protect them from annoyance, embarrassment, oppression, under burden and expense."
Attorney Patrick Reilly released a statement on behalf of Gabby's parents, Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt, calling the motion premature "as there has not yet been any questions posed to them in deposition."
The parents are requesting protection from being deposed from the time period between Gabby's death and the discovery of her body – Aug. 27, 2021, to Sept. 19, 2021.
The motion states the public and Gabby's parents are likely curious about their son's "life, his last days, his interaction with his parents, and the thoughts and feelings experienced by his parents."
"But curiosity is not a reason to require the Defendants to discuss such personal and heart-wrenching details," court documents say.
The Laundrie's attorneys argue that information is irrelevant and discussing it would cause emotional distress to the Laundries.
The statement from the attorney of Petito's parents continues, stating, "It seeks to limit any inquiry to a very limited time frame, that being a 23 day period of the lives of Christopher Laundrie, Roberta Laundrie and Brian Laundrie, while at the same time the motion acknowledges that Florida’s rules of discovery are liberal. The motion suggests that any inquiry outside that 23 day window would cause the Laundries annoyance, embarrassment, oppression or undue burden or expense. This is yet another example of the Laundrie family refusing to provide answers to the parents of Gabby Petito. We look forward to addressing this issue with the Court."
It's now up to a judge to decide whether to grant approval to the motion.