A New Jersey judge has granted two law enforcement agencies the ability to release public records related to the investigation into the deaths of Columbus Blue Jackets forward Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew. However, the release of the records is not guaranteed.
The New Jersey State Police and Salem County Prosecutor's Office have indicated they remain unlikely to release the full records requested by media outlets, including The Dispatch, related to the Aug. 29 crash in which Johnny, 31, and Matthew Gaudreau, 29, died.
New Jersey state law allows for public records to be redacted or withheld in the interest of the privacy of victims.
The estates of the Gaudreau brothers had filed a request in a New Jersey court for a judge to stop law enforcement from releasing 911 calls, investigatory records, autopsy reports and other information that had been requested in the interest of the privacy of the Gaudreau family.
“The family is primarily concerned about photographs … or 911 calls that specifically address John and Matthew Gaudreau, their injuries and the emergency care they were provided,” William R, Lane, an attorney for the Gaudreaus, said Wednesday.
The state police and prosecutor’s office noted legal protections for the family's privacy but asked Superior Court Judge Timothy Chell to lift a preliminary injunction that had barred any release of the calls.
Both agencies said the ruling preventing the release of the records was impeding their normal process of identifying privacy concerns, as well as the process of providing investigatory information to the attorney for Sean Higgins, the 43-year-old man charged with vehicular homicide in connection with the crash.
The state police and Salem County Prosecutor's office have said they will not release any 911 calls or excerpts of those calls without considering privacy protections and consulting with the Gaudreau family. Media outlets and others requesting the records could object to a decision against a record's release.
On Wednesday, Chell verbally agreed to sign an order that will lift the temporary restraint that had been in place and declined to enter any sort of permanent injunction. That order was expected to be filed late Wednesday or Thursday.
"We fully intend to maintain our objections to any of these documents," Lane said.
He said the Gaudreau family is asserting its privacy rights to prevent the release of graphic material that would become widespread on the Internet for years.
“They’re doing it for the deceased, and for the families and their children," the attorney said.
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In a Monday filing, state police said the Gaudreaus' "privacy rights likely will overcome any public interest in some or all of recordings."
Gaudreau 911 calls contain 'graphic and disturbing' content, prosecutor says
The prosecutor’s office on the same day cited "the graphic and disturbing nature of certain content within the calls," including a "particularly disturbing" call made while a motorist was trying to help the brothers. Releasing that call would violate a constitutional protection of "fairness, compassion and respect" for crime victims, the prosecutor's office said.
A filing by the prosecutor's office also cited intense media interest in the death of Johnny Gaudreau, saying witnesses, if identified, would likely be contacted by "media, fans, analysts, observers and gawkers," bringing "an unreasonable risk of tainting witness recollection, chilling voluntary witness participation and witness availability, and undermining the integrity of the prosecution."
"Additionally, and most importantly, the 911 callers were subjected to significant trauma … and are themselves considered victims for purposes of trauma response management and resources," the prosecutor’s office said.
Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau died after being struck by a Jeep Grand Cherokee while bicycling. They were in town for the wedding of their sister, who was to be married the next day.
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Higgins, 43, is charged with two counts of death by auto. His next court date is scheduled for Oct. 15, the same day as the Columbus Blue Jackets' home opener , where the Gaudreau brothers are set to be honored in a pregame ceremony.
State police have said Higgins admitted to consuming "five or six" beers before and while driving and accelerating past a vehicle on the shoulder of the road where the brothers were bicycling.
When the two vehicles, an SUV and a sedan, noticed the bikers on the narrow shoulder, they moved into the southbound lane to give the cyclists space.
Higgins interpreted that as an effort to block him from passing, and he then passed on the right, striking the Gaudreau brothers, according to the prosecutor's office.
bbruner@gannett.com
jwalsh@cpsj.com
This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Gaudreau records release still unlikely after New Jersey judge lifts restrictions
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