A judge ruled Monday that statements made by the man accused of killing NHL star Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, can be used at trial, including an admission the man made to police that \u201cI hit (them).\u201d<\/p>\n
Lawyers for the accused, Sean M. Higgins, argued that all statements their client made to police should be barred from trial because he was not properly read his Miranda rights against self-incrimination. They also argued that when Higgins mentioned possibly needing a lawyer during questioning the night of the fatal crash, his interview with police should have ended. The prosecution, meanwhile, has said all statements were lawfully obtained.<\/p>\n
Higgins, 44, was indicted in December on two counts of first-degree aggravated manslaughter, two counts of second-degree reckless vehicular homicide, one count of tampering with physical evidence (fourth-degree) and leaving the scene of a fatal accident (second-degree).<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been over a year since the Gaudreau brothers were struck and killed while riding bicycles near their childhood home on Aug. 29, 2024, the eve of their sister\u2019s wedding. Johnny, a star winger for the Columbus Blue Jackets known to fans as \u201cJohnny Hockey,\u201d was 31. Matthew, who reached the second-tier AHL as a player before pivoting to coaching, was 29. In the 14 months since Higgins\u2019 first hearing, his lawyers have filed a string of unsuccessful motions to dismiss charges and bar evidence against their client from trial.<\/p>\n
The latest decision by Superior Court Judge Michael Silvanio comes after a day-long hearing on Oct. 29 that included testimony from four New Jersey State Police officers, body camera footage from some of the officers\u2019 interactions with Higgins on the scene, and an hour-long police interview after Higgins\u2019 arrest. Silvanio rendered his verdict on Monday following closing arguments by the defense and prosecution.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt this time, I\u2019m ordering that all statements made by the defendant Sean Higgins are, in fact, admissible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Defense attorneys argued that New Jersey State Police had already identified Higgins as the driver in the fatal crash and had probable cause to arrest their client before they began questioning him at the scene. According to the defense, Higgins immediately admitted to an arriving trooper, \u201cI hit \u2019em, I hit \u2019em, I hit \u2019em.\u201d Police also spoke to a witness who relayed Higgins\u2019 admission that he had been drinking prior to his arrest.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt this moment, probable cause for a vehicular homicide offense has been established and Miranda is required,\u201d the defense wrote in a court filing.<\/p>\n
Instead, the defense said, police continued to \u201cinterrogate\u201d their client and ask Higgins \u201cincriminating questions\u201d about his alcohol consumption. Higgins\u2019 lawyers argued that their clients\u2019 responses \u2014 including that he\u2019d been drinking before driving \u2014 might not have been elicited had he been advised of his rights. They also challenged that it was clear to Higgins he was not free to leave the scene, meaning he was essentially in custody.<\/p>\n
The prosecution countered that the officers\u2019 questions prior to Higgins\u2019 arrest were limited to his involvement in the crash and whether he was intoxicated or not, and \u201cdid not amount to custodial interrogation.\u201d And given Higgins was not yet in custody when troopers questioned him at the scene, it was not necessary to advise him of his Miranda rights any sooner. Troopers testified that Higgins was detained, which is more of a temporary stop for an investigation, but not under arrest during that initial questioning.<\/p>\n
At the Oct. 29 hearing, New Jersey State Police trooper Mark Allonardo, who was one of the first officers on the scene, testified that he spoke to Higgins generally about the crash \u2014 where he was going and in what direction he was driving \u2014 at which point he smelled alcohol on his breath. Higgins then admitted to drinking beer that day when asked and failed a field sobriety test. Higgins was then arrested at the scene and read his Miranda rights.<\/p>\n
Assistant prosecutor Michael Mestern said the series of events prior to Higgins\u2019 arrest lasted around only 14 minutes and was \u201ctypical of many, if not all, traffic accidents police officers encounter daily,\u201d in the State\u2019s counter filing.<\/p>\n
Once he was arrested, the state said in the court filing, Higgins \u201cknowingly, intelligently and voluntarily\u201d waived his Fifth Amendment rights \u201cimmediately,\u201d and that all statements Higgins made on Aug. 29 and in the early hours of Aug. 30 should be \u201cadmissible if this matter proceeds to trial.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silvanio said that there was no undue pressure on Higgins to speak with troopers on the scene and said that he \u201cfreely and voluntarily\u201d engaged in those conversations. He also cited testimony that while Higgins was told to stay on scene, it was because troopers were actively investigating the fatal accident.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs viewed on the body worn camera, the court is able to observe the entire time on scene, Mr. Higgins, without any restraint,\u201d Silvanio said. \u201cHe\u2019s free to move about \u2026 talk on his cell phone, smoke a cigarette.\u201d<\/p>\n
The defense also argued that Higgins asked for a lawyer partway through being questioned by police after the crash, and then was asked more questions. According to the body camera footage from the interrogation, Higgins asked if he should obtain a lawyer because he felt uncomfortable with a request by police to review his cellphone.<\/p>\n
The troopers said they could not advise him on whether he needed an attorney, then asked if he wished to continue questioning without a lawyer, which Higgins agreed to.<\/p>\n
They read Higgins his Miranda rights for a third time, which he waived.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors did not consider Higgins\u2019 statement to be an unequivocal request for a lawyer, but rather a request for consultation on whether he wanted a lawyer. The defense argued in an Oct. 29 filing that \u201conce the defendant brought up \u2018needing\u2019 an attorney, it triggered his entitlement to counsel and all questioning should have ceased.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the moment the Defendant said, \u2018should, should I actually have a lawyer? I don\u2019t know. I feel like I need a lawyer,\u2019 all questioning must cease,\u201d the defense wrote.<\/p>\n
Silvanio, in his decision, said Higgins\u2019 question did not rise to an unequivocal request for counsel.<\/p>\n
According to the prosecution, Higgins faces up to 70 years in prison if found guilty on all counts. In January, he rejected a plea deal that would see him spend 35 years in prison in return for a guilty plea. Motions to dismiss charges against Higgins were denied by Silvanio in April.<\/p>\n
His next court date is scheduled for Dec. 15.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A judge ruled Monday that statements made by the man accused of killing NHL star Johnny Gaudreau and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":284078,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[392,385,99],"class_list":["post-284077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-columbus-blue-jackets","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=284077"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284077\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/284078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}