Lawyers for Sean M. Higgins, the driver accused of manslaughter, files motion on blood alcohol content test results, will seek to have indictment dismissed
New defence documents filed in New Jersey’s superior court Tuesday indicate that Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau’s blood alcohol levels as they rode bikes along a road near their home last summer were higher than that of the driver charged with fatally hitting them.
In one of three filings presented during a pre-trial hearing in the state’s case against Sean M. Higgins, it was revealed that tests performed after the crash by state officials showed the NHL All-star’s blood alcohol content (BAC) at 0.129 per cent at the time of his death. His younger brother’s was slightly higher at 0.134 per the motion supplied to the National Post by the defendant’s lawyers.
The Woodston man’s lawyers are motioning for more specifics on how blood samples were collected from all three, records of tests performed on the samples since and information on general testing protocols.
The filings do not allege the brothers’ level of inebriation contributed to the crash nor that they were breaking the law as they cycled along the unlit, rural-two-lane road in rural Oldsman Township, PA., near their parent’s home, on the evening of Aug. 29.
Higgins, who told police he had been drinking that day, is accused of driving aggressively and using the inside shoulder of the road to speed around two other vehicles, striking the brothers in the process. He allegedly continued until his vehicle stopped functioning one-tenth of a mile down the road.
In 2023, the New Jersey Law Revision Commission concluded that “whether an intoxicated cyclist will face charges under New Jersey’s DWI statute hinges upon which precedent a court elects to follow.”
The National Post has contacted a representative for the Gaudreau family for additional comments and information.
Lawyers Richard F. Klineburger and Matthew V. Portella also notified they’ll ask for details on similar Salem County plea deals in recent years, feeling Higgins’ offer of 35 years was “greatly out of range.”
“It seems that the State is improperly enhancing same due to the publicity surrounding the matter at bar,” they wrote in a motion for discovery.
“We believe these filings are essential to ensuring that our client’s Constitutional rights are protected and that he is not being treated unfairly based upon the amount of publicity being garnered,” Richard F. Klineburger III and Matthew V. Portella, Higgins’ attorneys, said
in a statement to the National Post.
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