A jury has awarded a sportscaster $55 million against her lawsuit over a secretly recorded videotape that her stalker was able to capture from a hotel room before posting it online.
TMZ reports that Erin Andrews has finally gotten the sympathy of the court when a jury awarded the sportscaster with her lawsuit against her stalker and two hotel companies. The 37-year-old co-host of TV show "Dancing With The Stars" claimed that her stalker, Michael David Barrett, and the Marriott at Vanderbilt University were to be held responsible for the nude videos of her recorded when she stayed in the hotel in 2008. The original lawsuit called for $75 million to be paid in damages.
Throughout the trial period, attorneys for both the owner and former operator of the hotel argued that they should not be held responsible for the event. Although they claimed that what happened to the Fox Sports reporter was terrible, the person to blame for the video was Barrett, her convicted stalker.
After a couple of weeks of an emotional testimony, the jurors have finally make their decision on the case. CBC published that after a full day of deliberations, the jury came back with a decision that found both the stalker and the hotel companies were equally at fault for the incident. On Daily Mail, it was published that the panel believed 51% of the blame belonged to the stalker, while the two hotels shared the rest. This also meant that the hotel was to pay Andrews almost $27 million.
Barrett was to pay Andrews $28 million for damages. But because he did not have millions to give away, the sportscaster is said to only receive pay-out from the hotel. A judge could decide to apply an exception and make the hotel liable for the whole $55 million. This could also lead the lawyers of the hotel to appeal and possibly leave Andrews without anything.
As the jurors announced their verdict, Andrews could not help but cry. The sportscaster hugged her attorneys, family, and some jurors after the verdict was announced. This had been an emotional struggle for Andrews who spent the last week opening up about how the videos left her humiliated, shamed, and battling depression.
Barrett had previously pleaded guilty to stalking the sportscaster and had altered the peephole of the hotel room to record videos of her. He argued that someone from the hotel gave him Andrews' room number and honored his request to be booked in a room adjacent to hers. He has been sentenced to spend two and a half years in prison.
