Alleged drunken NJ driver who killed hockey star Johnny Gaudreau and his brother faces major court setback
The alleged boozed-up New Jersey driver accused of fatally mowing down NHL star Johnny Gaudreau and his brother on the eve of their sister’s wedding was dealt a major setback in court Monday.
Suspect Sean Higgins’ defense team unsuccessfully argued that his damning statements to authorities at the scene and police station after the crash should be tossed because officers didn’t read him his rights or cut his interview short after he asked about possibly needing a lawyer, according to NJ.com.
Hockey-playing brothers Johnny (left) and Matthew Gaudreau were killed by an alleged drunken driver while riding bikes home from their sister’s wedding rehearsal in New Jersey last year. Katie Gaudreau/Facebook
Higgins, 44, is facing vehicular-homicide, aggravated-manslaughter and other charges stemming from the horror Aug. 29, 2024 crash.
“I hit them, I hit them,” he alleged told cops afterward.
Higgins also allegedly admitted to downing “five or six drinks” leading up to slamming into Gaudreau, a 31-year-old Columbus Blue Jackets star, and his 29-year-old brother Matthew Gaudreau, a former hockey player and up-and-coming coach, as the pair rode their bikes on the side of a road in Oldmans after their sister’s wedding rehearsal dinner.
Higgins’ lawyers claimed that New Jersey state troopers already had enough information to establish probable cause for charging Higgins before they spoke to him and should have read him his Miranda rights at the scene, NJ.com reported.
Suspect Sean Higgins, here with one of his lawyers, tried to get his alleged confession to cops tossed from court. AP
The defendant’s legal team also brought up that Higgins asked cops whether he should call a lawyer when officers requested combing through his phone logs at the police station, the outlet reported.
But Salem County prosecutors insisted Higgins was read his rights at the scene and then again at the police station, with the charged driver agreeing to speak each time.
Judge Michael Silvanio rules that Higgins’ damning statements can be heard at trial. AP
Officers also asked if he wanted to keep talking without a lawyer, and he agreed, according to video shown in court, according to NJ.com.
Judge Michael Silvanio ruled authorities did not need to read Higgins his rights at the scene because they were only trying to sort out what happened and that Higgins was not actually requesting a lawyer at the police station, according to the Columbus Dispatch.
Higgins has faced numerous blows in hearings leading up to the trial, including Silvanio previously rejecting Higgins’s bid to keep evidence collected from his Jeep out of trial.
His lawyers also unsuccessfully claimed the charges against Higgins should be dropped or reduced because the brothers were more drunk than he was at the time of the crash.
Higgins allegedly passed two cars that had slowed for the victims, who were on their bikes single-file, on the right when he slammed into them.
