3 Sarasota-Manatee legal cases to pay attention to in 2024

Gabriela Szymanowska, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
·5 min read

Here is a look at several highly anticipated cases in Sarasota and Manatee counties that are expected to head to trial or will have major updates to pay attention to in 2024.

It's important to note that while some of these cases are scheduled for trial, those trial dates are not set in stone and could change depending on court proceedings ahead of the trials, if settlements are proposed, or if it's revealed more time is needed for preparation.

Petito v. Laundrie: Trial set for May 2024

Gabby Petito's parents, Joseph Petito, left, and Nichole Schmidt, center, with their attorney, Patrick Reilly, right, listen to arguments by an attorney for Brian Laundrie's parents, Matthew Luka, as Luka seeks to have a negligence lawsuit dismissed in court in Sarasota County, Florida on Wednesday, June 22, 2022. Petito and Schmidt claim in their lawsuit that the Laundrie's acted maliciously by not telling them where their daughter was and if she was alive.

Gabby Petito's family may finally have the answers they're looking for in May 2024 when their negligence lawsuit against Christopher and Roberta Laundrie, Brian Laundrie's parents, and their New York-based attorney goes to trial.

Joseph Petito and Nichole Schmidt, Gabby Petito's parents, first filed their lawsuit in March 2022 about six months after their daughter's body was found near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming on Sept. 19, 2021. The lawsuit claims that the Laundries knew about the whereabouts of their son, Brian Laundrie, following Petito’s death and may have been trying to get him out of the country before his death.

Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie were on a cross-country trip when Gabby was reported missing by her family on Sept. 11, 2021. Her death was ruled a homicide due to strangulation.

Brian Laundrie was the lone person of interest in the investigation after he returned home without contacting her family. He later disappeared into a nature reserve in Florida, and his body was found on Oct. 20, 2021, after he died by suicide.

In late November, Gabby Petito's parents filed a third amended complaint against the Laundries and Steven Bertolino, the family's attorney who represented them while the search for Gabby Petito took place in 2021.

In the new filing, attorneys for the Petito family claim that Brian Laundrie called his parents and told them Gabby was "gone" almost two weeks before her family reported her missing, all the while sending her family texts from her phone in an attempt to cover up that Gabby Petito was dead. The complaint also states that the Laundries retained Bertolino on Sept. 2, 2021, after speaking with him several days prior in which they informed him that Gabby was "gone."

As of now, the trial is expected to take place in mid-to-late May.

Ashley Benefield: Waiting on appellate decision of whether case will proceed

Ashley Benefield is accused of killing her estranged husband, Doug Benefield, and is attempting to have the case dismissed under Florida's Stand Your Ground law. The two-day hearing on the justifiable use of force immunity defense concluded Friday, July 7, 2023 at the Manatee County Judicial Center in Bradenton, Florida.
Ashley Benefield is accused of killing her estranged husband, Doug Benefield, and is attempting to have the case dismissed under Florida's Stand Your Ground law. The two-day hearing on the justifiable use of force immunity defense concluded Friday, July 7, 2023 at the Manatee County Judicial Center in Bradenton, Florida.

While it is unclear if a former ballerina's criminal case will proceed to trial in 2024 as she awaits to hear about her appeal to overturn a circuit court judge's decision to not grant her 'Stand Your Ground' immunity claim, her case could still have significant updates.

An attorney for Ashley Benefield, 31, who was arrested and charged with murder in the second degree with a firearm in November 2020, filed the petition in October asking the court to find that Ashley Benefield is either entitled to immunity from prosecution or quash the trial court's order related to the immunity claim.

Ashley Benefield was arrested a little over a month after investigators responded to a call from a neighbor who said Ashley Benefield had told him she'd been attacked by her husband, Doug Benefield, and that she had shot him, according to an affidavit.

During a hearing in July, assistant state attorneys Suzanne O'Donnell and Rebecca Freel, and Ashley Benefield's defense attorney, Neil Taylor, argued whether or not Ashley Benefield's actions the night she fired a gun at Doug Benefield were self-defense.

If the appellate court rules in favor of Benefield, the case could either be dismissed or there could be another hearing for the immunity claim. If the appellate court doesn't rule in Benefield's favor, the case could proceed to a trial. As of Dec. 11, a response to the petition for writ of prohibition was filed on Nov. 16 and no further actions have been taken.

Keep reading: Judge denies former Florida ballerina's Stand Your Ground claim in husband's fatal shooting

Previous reporting: Former Florida ballerina evokes 'Stand Your Ground' in 2020 homicide of estranged husband

'Take Care of Maya' case continues beyond trial as defense files motions for new trials

Maya Kowalski was wearing her mothers, earrings and purse Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023 as the jury ended it's second day of deliberations. The Kowalski family is suing Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital for false imprisonment, negligent infliction of emotional distress, medical negligence, battery, and other claims more than a year after the family matriarch, Beata Kowalski, took her life following allegations she was abusing her daughter, Maya Kowalski.

While the Kowalski family finally had their day in court and were awarded by a six-person jury $261 million in compensatory and punitive damages following a two-month-long trial, their case isn't over yet.

As of Dec. 6, the defense for Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital has filed at least two motions related to a new trial, the first based on an allegation of juror misconduct and the second related to directive verdicts.

The defense for the hospital also indicated after the trial that they would be appealing the verdict "based on the clear and prejudicial errors throughout the trial and deliberate conduct by plaintiff's counsel that misled the jury."

In a 122-page document filed before Thanksgiving, the defense for the hospital asked the court to grant an interview with Juror No. 1, the foreperson, to open an investigation into allegations of jury misconduct and grant a new trial on that basis.

The motion claims that the foreperson deliberately ignored Sarasota Circuit Judge Hunter Carroll's instructions to not discuss the case with any person during the trial, to not consider any evidence outside of what was presented in court, and not to form any opinions about the case before deliberations.

The Kowalski family sued Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital in 2018 for $220 million more than a year after wife and mother, Beata Kowalski, took her life after child abuse allegations arose against her, and a Florida Department of Children and Families investigation led to then 10-year-old Maya Kowalski being separated from her family.

A criminal investigation is also underway after Maya Kowalski filed a complaint with the St. Petersburg Police Dept., alleging she was sexually abused while staying at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital in October 2016.

Gabriela Szymanowska covers the legal system for the Herald-Tribune in partnership with Report for America. You can support her work with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America. Contact Gabriela Szymanowska at gszymanowska@gannett.com, or on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: 2024 cases: Petito v. Laundrie; Ashley Benefield; 'Take Care of Maya'