BLOOMINGTON – One of the men named in a civil lawsuit filed
by the family of Lauren Spierer says the lawsuit should be dismissed.
Michael Beth’s attorney filed a motion in federal court
Thursday saying that his client didn’t “breach a duty” to the missing IU
student on the night she was last seen. The motion also argues that the Spierer
family “cannot prove damages as there is no evidence of Spierer’s death or any
injury to her.”
The suit was filed against Beth, Corey Rossman and Jason
“Jay” Rosenbaum, who are believed to be the last three people to see Spierer on
the night she disappeared. They’re accused of negligence that led to Spierer’s
presumed death.
The motion argues that Beth owed “no duty” to Spierer,
saying he “observed Spierer in an intoxicated state” and witnessed Rossman
encourage Spierer to join him at a bar. Beth later returned to his residence,
which he shared with Rossman, to find the pair together. The motion said Beth
became concerned about Spierer’s safety and tried to get her to sleep on a
couch. After she refused, he escorted her to the residence of Rosenbaum and
left her with him.
Rosenbaum was the last person to see Spierer.
The motion argues that the college student’s disappearance
was not foreseeable, saying that the “Plaintiffs’ complaint (against Beth)
fails to provide any reason why Beth should have foreseen Spierer’s
disappearance.” It was Rosenbaum, not Beth, the motion states, who allowed
Spierer to leave unattended.
The motion also argues that the Spierer family “cannot prove
that Spierer was injured or killed.” The motion cites Indiana law, which says a
person can’t be presumed dead unless they’ve been “inexplicably absent for a
continuous period of seven years.” The filing argues that Spierer’s case does
not meet that standard, as she disappeared in June 2011.
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