A Nashville jury will soon decide whether sportscaster and TV host Erin Andrews will be awarded $75 million in a lawsuit against a man who posted videos of her naked on the internet, and the hotel where he filmed her.
The jury heard closing arguments Friday in the case against Michael David Barrett, the man who stalked Andrews and posted the videos, and the owner and management of the Nashville Marriott at Vanderbilt University.
Andrews' attorney, Bruce Broillet, told the jury that the hotel owners and management were negligent because they didn't have a policy about not giving out their guests' room information to other guests.
He said hotel staff willingly allowed Barrett to stay in the room next to Andrews because they didn't want to lose his business.
"The hotel must never let profits become more important than guest safety," Broillet said.
Testimony during the case varied on whether a hotel staffer actually told Barrett where Andrews was staying and then allowed him to book a room adjacent to hers.
Related: Erin Andrews Trial Delayed as Witness Accused of Watching Nude Video
Broillet also said hotel management made other missteps that "enabled" Barrett, such as failing to alert Andrews that someone had asked to stay in the room next to hers, failing to have proper security and failing to check if peepholes were loose and able to be tampered with. Barrett filmed Andrews by removing door peepholes and aiming a cell phone camera into her room.
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.
In tearful testimony Monday, she said her "life is different now"and will never be the same since footage of her in the nude is public.
The hotel's defense maintained that Barrett was solely responsible for the "terrible disgusting crime."
"Are banks responsible for bank robbers?" asked defense attorney Marc Dedman in closing arguments.
Barrett spent 2½ years in federal prison after he admitted to renting hotel rooms next to the Andrews on three occasions and secretly recording videos of her in the nude in Nashville and Columbus, Ohio, and posting them online.
The jury will begin deliberating Monday.
