PUBLIC SAFETY

Judge dismisses 1 of 3 lawsuits in Lauren Spierer's disappearance

By Jill Disis
jill.disis@indystar.com

A federal judge Monday threw out a negligence lawsuit against one of three men who were with missing Indiana University student Lauren Spierer the night she disappeared.

Federal Judge Tanya Walton Pratt dismissed the lawsuit against Michael Beth that had been filed this June by Spierer's parents. Robert and Charlene Spierer of Greenburgh, N.Y., alleged that Beth, Jason "Jay" Rosenbaum and Corey Rossman owed Spierer a "duty of care" the night she went missing in 2011. The parents are hoping to force them to share more information about her disappearance.

Attorneys for all three men argued Monday for Pratt to throw out the lawsuit. Pratt said she expects to make a decision on Rosenbaum's and Rossman's cases by the end of the year, though a ruling could come as early as within the next two weeks, she said.

"It's what I was hoping for," said Beth's attorney, Greg Garrison, who was the only lawyer to speak with reporters on the federal courthouse steps after the ruling. "(Pratt's) got a good nose for these types of things. I'm not surprised."

Spierer's parents attended Monday's hearing. Afterward, Charlene Spierer said that she was disappointed by the ruling.

"It just doesn't seem right," she said by phone. "It feels like we're still in the same place we were. We'll keep hoping we have a good outcome regarding the other two young men. We just hope that the case moves forward. And no matter what, we're not giving up."

All three men were with Spierer at various times the night she was last seen. The Spierers said the three men knew their daughter was "extremely intoxicated to the point of incapacitation," the suit says, and didn't do enough to make sure she made it home safely.

Beth, the suit says, invited Spierer to sleep on his couch before later bringing her down the hallway to Rosenbaum's apartment. Beth is the only one the Spierers do not claim gave their daughter any alcohol that night.

Garrison on Monday said that just because his client saw Spierer while she was drunk didn't mean he was liable in her disappearance.

"You cannot create a duty (of care) when you see some person too drunk to stand up straight," Garrison said.

"The one thing he did to be a nice guy has landed him in this courtroom."

In her ruling, Pratt agreed with Garrison's argument and cited numerous cases to support her decision that Beth was not negligent toward Spierer. Pratt also said Spierer had her own responsibility to take care of herself even though she was drunk.

Spierer went missing during the early morning hours of June 3, 2011, when she was last seen partying in Bloomington with fellow students at different apartments and at local bar Kilroy's.

At 4:30 a.m., a witness told police, Spierer was seen walking toward the corner of 11th Street and College Avenue. That was the last time she was seen, and her parents believe she is dead.

Pratt's decision to either keep or throw out the lawsuits against Rosenbaum and Rossman alleging negligence in her death could hinge on whether it is reasonable to believe that Spierer is dead. Attorneys for Rosenbaum and Rossman cited an Indiana law that does not presume a missing person is dead until seven years after their disappearance.

Jeanine Kerridge, the Spierers' attorney, argued that the cases against the men should be allowed to move forward so a jury can decide whether that is a reasonable assumption.

The Journal News staff writer Shawn Cohen and Star reporter Tim Evans contributed to this report. Call Star reporter Jill Disis at (317) 444-6137. Follow her on Twitter: @jdisis