Court date for driver following Gaudreau brothers' fatal crash delayed

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Authorities in New Jersey have not said how fast the accused driver was driving when he struck and killed brothers and hockey players Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau this summer.

During Sean M. Higgins' final court appearance in September, Jonathan Flynn, the assistant Salem County prosecutor handling the case, suggested that the speed limit had been exceeded by 50 miles per hour.

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As The Columbus Dispatch reported, he also said that the two drivers Higgins was attempting to overtake before the collision estimated their speed at 55 miles per hour (about 88 kilometers per hour), suggesting Higgins was traveling even faster .

It may have been one of the pieces of information presented during a preliminary arraignment hearing originally scheduled for Tuesday but later postponed.

However, details including the 911 calls and other details from the crime scene are unlikely to be released publicly.

While a judge ruled that the records can be released publicly, even though both men's estates filed a motion to prevent it, The Dispatch reported that police and prosecutors were unlikely to do so because state law gives them discretion , to project the identity of the victims. Privacy.

Higgins, a 43-year-old Iraq war veteran and married father of two from Woodstown, New Jersey, is charged with two counts of vehicular manslaughter after he struck the brothers as they were bicycling on a New York street the evening before Aug. 29 Jersey drove from her younger sister's wedding.

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He is also charged with reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle.

In New Jersey, pretrial conferences are meetings about the crime, known in most other states as a felony, at which the judge, prosecutor, and defense discuss evidence in the case and decide how to proceed.

Often the prosecution will offer the defendant the opportunity to plead guilty or plead no contest, potentially leading to a reduced sentence.

The maximum penalty for a car accident death is 10 years, meaning Higgins could face up to 20 years in prison.

Jeremy Lackey, a New Jersey criminal defense lawyer and partner at Lackey & Miller LLC, told the Calgary Herald that even if a settlement is offered, he expects Higgins' lawyer to dispute the allegations that her client was impaired become.

As The Associated Press reports, the criminal complaint against Higgins says he told an officer at the scene of the crash that he had drunk five or six beers before the crash and admitted to drinking alcohol while driving. During a September bail hearing that was ultimately rejected, prosecutors alleged that Higgins started drinking at home after a work meeting ended around 3 p.m. and after he had a disturbing conversation with his mother.

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Higgins' blood alcohol level was 0.087 after the accident, just above the state's legal limit of 0.08.

Lackey also said the state is not obligated to reach a plea agreement and the matter could end up before the grand jury, which will decide whether Higgins is charged and tried.

“What is common is that there will be some negotiation between the (pre-arraignment) date and the arraignment, particularly if you believe it will be beneficial to your client,” Lackey said.

Over the weekend, Madeline Gaudreau, Matthew's widow, was probably thinking about the upcoming conference again as she celebrated the baby shower for her first child.

The mother-to-be posted a series of photos to her Instagram account on Sunday that revealed the boy's name as Tripp. Among the guests was Meredith Gaudreau, her sister-in-law and Johnny's widow. She is also pregnant, a fact she revealed at the couple's funeral in September.

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