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Expert says Erin Andrews wasn’t guaranteed safety at hotel

NASHVILLE — Sometimes guest safety, like bedbugs, is simply beyond a ­hotel’s control, a defense expert testified Wednesday in sportscaster Erin ­Andrews’ $75 million civil lawsuit.

Hotel-security instructor Stephen Barth insisted that the Nashville Marriott “met or exceeded its duty of care” during Andrews’ stay — even though a serial stalker was able to record a nude video of her through a peephole he had tampered with using a hacksaw.

“Hotels are not the insurers of guests’ safety,” Barth, a professor at Conrad Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management, told jurors. “Everybody I know, myself included, have exceptional empathy for what Miss Andrews has gone through.

“But if you think about bedbugs, it is impossible for a ­hotel to guarantee guests that they will never encounter bedbugs in their room.”

Andrews, 37, is suing the owner and the manager of the Nashville Marriott, claiming the hotel was negligent in allowing the stalker to take a room right next to hers in 2008, when she was with ESPN. She now works for Fox Sports.

Lawyers for the hotel claim its staff never received a specific request for that room.
Barth said the stalker, Michael David Barrett, was dead set on taking a peephole video of the sportscaster and wasn’t going to be “thwarted” by security cameras.

The professor also likened Barrett to a terrorist, saying, “He committed several illegal acts along the way in order to achieve his directive . . .

“He didn’t care really about whether or not he got caught as he ultimately published [the video] on the Internet. It was like a terrorist’s act,” Barth continued.

His testimony contradicts that of hotel-security expert Fred Del Marva, who testified for Andrews last week, and said the hotel should have had more security guards and cameras.

Barth insisted that while security guards can deter crime, housekeepers are “oftentimes as effective.”

A psychiatrist who evaluated Andrews last August also took the stand for the defense Wednesday, saying she diagnosed her with with “mild” post-traumatic stress disorder.

“This experience would qualify on the mild side,” Dr. Kimberly Brown told jurors.

“While [Andrews] experiences symptoms of PTSD, they do not cause significant impairment in her functioning.”

Brown claimed that if ­Andrews were to undergo cognitive-behavior therapy, “a good prognosis and a good outcome” would be expected.

“I do not think her symptoms are severe or permanent,” Brown said. “She is a very resilient individual and she has good coping skills and has triumphed. She is not failing in any areas of her life.”

The shrink pointed out that Andrews has “good relationships” and even landed her “dream job” since the peephole video went viral.

“Those markers are not significantly impaired in her life,” Brown said.

Meanwhile, a representative for the hotel operator who took the stand earlier this week admitted that two of his friends played the peephole video while they were out to dinner.

“They brought up the allegations and they started viewing the video. I asked them to stop, and while they did so, it was not as quickly as I had hoped,” witness Neal Peskind, who represents West End Hotel Partners, said in a statement.

“This incident has been blown into something it was not. I would never disrespect Ms. Andrews and what she has been through.”