Driver wants charges in death of Gaudreau brothers dismissed

Article content

Lawyers representing Sean M. Higgins, the driver accused of killing Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau last summer, want their client’s indictment tossed, saying the grand jury didn’t learn about the brothers’ intoxication at the time of the crash, which could amount to possible “contributory negligence” in their own deaths.

“Mr. Higgins is not demanding to be treated differently than any other but rather is respectfully requesting that the presentation of the charges against him be full, complete and transparent so as to allow him the ability to fairly defend the matter at bar,” his lawyers state in a largely-redacted court document.

Article content

As previously reported, post-mortem tests indicated Johnny, the 31-year-old forward for the NHL’s Columbus Bluejackets, and Matthew, a 29-year-old former minor pro turned coach, had blood alcohol contents (BAC) of 0.129 and 0.134, respectively, as they were cycling on the shoulder of a New Jersey township road before being struck by Sean Higgins’ vehicle on the evening of Aug. 29.

Higgins, who admitted to responding officers he’d been drinking that day and later failed a field sobriety test, had a BAC of .087, which is above the state’s .08 legal limit.

The brothers, who were supposed to stand at their little sister’s wedding the following day, died at the scene.

Based on witness accounts, there’s no evidence to show they were riding recklessly or on the roadway when hit. Bicycles are not governed by the state’s driving while intoxicated laws.

Regardless, the 44-year-old’s attorneys, Richard Klineburg and Matthew Portella, in a motion to dismiss argue the state did not present that evidence in indictment hearings, further asserting that prosecutors didn’t present prima facie — enough evidence at first glance to support their claims in court..

Article content

Article content

Because a manslaughter charge in the state requires the victim’s death to have occurred “under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life,” they contend Higgins’ conduct, based on the testimony of two officers, created a “mere possibility” of death instead of the required “probability.”

While alleging “the cyclists were intoxicated,” Higgins’ counsel say they’re not arguing “that it somehow exonerates” him.

“Rather, in an effort to ensure that a matter of this magnitude where the State is making plea offer where they are requesting five (5) times the state prison sentence of others similarly charged, there is a heightened need for transparency throughout the proceedings from start to finish.”

In regard to the proposed sentence, the lawyers insist the state’s first plea offer in January — a 35-year sentence, which Higgins rejected — was “greatly out of the range of other plea offers made in Salem County over the past few years” and a likely influenced by the case’s high profile in the public eye.

In a motion to obtain plea offers from previous similar cases, Klineburg and Portella cited a case from December 2024 in which a driver with a 0.22 BAC, marijuana in his system and a toddler in the backseat fatally struck a cyclist headed in the opposite direction before looping around to survey the scene and driving away again.

Article content

In exchange for a guilty plea to one count of second-degree death by auto, he received a seven-year sentence.

“If Mr. Higgins was a professional athlete or famous actor it is presumed that the State would not give him any preferential treatment. By way of the converse, his ability to effectively plea bargain should not be limited nor hampered by the fact that the victims’ status garners such publicity so as to influence the State’s position,” they wrote.

The National Post has contacted the prosecutor’s office and the Gaudreau family through its civil litigation lawyer for comment.

Final dispositions and motions are scheduled to be heard on April 15.

Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.

Article content