NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – An attorney for sportscaster Erin Andrews said Friday that two hotel companies enabled a stalker who took nude videos of her and posted them online.
Bruce Broillet told jurors Friday in closing arguments for a civil trial that Andrews has suffered public shame and post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the crime and the companies ought to pay.
He said that had it not been for the actions of people affiliated with the Nashville Marriott at Vanderbilt, stalker Michael David Barrett would not have been able to do what he did.
Barrett has pleaded guilty to stalking Andrews in three cities and altering peepholes in hotel rooms in Nashville and Columbus, Ohio, to shoot nude videos of the sportscaster. In a video deposition played before the jury, Barrett said he altered hotel room peepholes in such a way so that he could pull them out and use his cellphone camera to shoot video through the open hole.
The hotel is a franchise. An attorney who represents the owner, West End Hotel Partners, and former operator, Windsor Capital Group, said the companies should not be blamed for what Barrett did.