Barrett was sentenced to serve 2 1/2 years in prison after admitting to stalking Andrews in three cities.
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The hotel is a franchise.
“There was no way the hotel could have envisioned something as perverted and disgusting as what Mr. Barrett did, it’s just inconceivable”, the lawyer, Marc Dedman, told the jury in his closing argument. In response to the ongoing lawsuit, online petitions have gone up, urging people to boycott Marriott hotels.
“Just the fact that he had been detained or arrested – I think that put her at ease a little bit”, Palmer said.
Andrews, now a Fox Sports host and co-host of the TV show “Dancing with the Stars”, was working for ESPN when she checked into the Nashville hotel in September 2008 to help cover a college football game. I would never disrespect Ms. Andrews and what she has been through.
While Palmer said he went out of his way not to bring up the scandal around Andrews, he said that the news of her convicted stalker’s arrest came as a relief.
The final witnesses in the case took the stand Thursday, including the former desk clerk who checked in Andrews’ stalker, Michael Barrett.
Andrews filed a $75 million lawsuit against him and the companies.
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Closing arguments concluded on Friday evening, and Judge Hamilton Gayden said he would allow jurors to rest before returning on Monday for deliberations. Jurors will begin deliberating Monday on whether the companies should be also faulted and on how much damages the sportscaster should be paid.
