NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — The family of Gabby Petito, law enforcement and many others are urging Brian Laundrie to come forward and talk about the last time he saw his missing fiancé.
Over the last week, police officials in Florida have said they believe Laundrie may have information regarding Petito’s disappearance. However, the 23-year-old has allegedly been refusing to speak to investigators.
Long Island attorney Brian Barket, who has been involved in many high-profile cases over the years, told WCBS 880’s Sophia Hall on Friday that there is essentially no way to force Laundrie to speak to investigators, like many are calling for.
However, he did note that there is one very rare way he could be questioned.
“There may be a way to put him in front of a federal – or depending on the state – a state grand jury and give him use immunity for his statements. So, he won't be incriminating himself. But, force him to answer questions about the whereabouts of this young woman. And if he doesn't – put him in jail for contempt,” Barket said. “That would be a highly unusual proceeding. But it is possible given circumstances that the government could do this and use a public safety exception.”
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According to the Long Island attorney, under that circumstance, no matter what Laundrie says, the information will not be used against him, and he cannot be arrested.
“They can't use the testimony to go out and gather other evidence to use against him. So, for example, in this case, suppose he would testify, ‘I was last with her at this spot, this is what happened: she wandered off and we got into a fight’ – whatever he says. If [investigators] then take that information, go out and find evidence, they can't use that evidence against him either,” Barket said. “If they find evidence independent of what he says, they could prosecute him based upon that.”
However, the attorney noted that the process is “highly, highly unusual.”
“But, it's the only legal method to compel him to testify,” he added.
While Barket has no connection with the investigation, he said he is hopeful that Laundrie’s attorney is collecting information and is going to provide it to investigators soon.
“My hope is that what the lawyer is doing now, he's gotten an account from his client and the lawyer is going about conducting a thorough investigation of what his client has said, to verify it and then ultimately come out and say, ‘Here's what took place,’ knowing that what he says is truthful and accurate,” Barket said. “The worst thing that the lawyer can do is go out with a public statement or allow the client to make a public statement that is later proven false.”
Barket said that he believes investigators do not have any evidence linking Laundrie to any crime currently, and the investigation is likely to continue for several more weeks as they try to track down the timeline of events.
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He noted that cell phone records are going to be vital for the investigation.
“With cell phone technology as it is in this age, they're going to be able to get his phone records and they're going to be able to get the GPS data on any one of a number of different apps on his phone or her phone,” Barket said. “They'll find out where they split up and then where they both went. So, I think that phone data is going to be key to locating her and a key to identifying what potentially happened to her.”
Barket is not representing anyone in the investigation but, was involved in a similar case several years ago.
“We represented an individual in upstate New York whose wife disappeared on Sept. 11, 2001 and was never found. He was tried four times for her murder, convicted twice and hired us for the third trial,” he explained. “We had a hung jury and then after the fourth trial, he was acquitted. So, this is very similar to that case, in some respects.”
He noted that the wife’s body was never discovered but, said his client was innocent and wrongly pursued and convicted.
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