Suspect in fatal Gaudreau brothers crash rejects 28-year plea deal in N.J.
Sean Higgins, 45, turned down a guilty plea to aggravated manslaughter charges. He now faces up to 91½ years if convicted at trial in January.
Higgins declines plea offer ahead of January trial in Gaudreau cycling deaths
Sean Higgins, the 45-year-old driver accused of killing NHL star Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew in an alleged drunk-driving incident, rejected a plea deal in a New Jersey court on Monday, Toronto Sun Crime reports.
Prosecutors had offered Higgins — an army veteran — a 28-year sentence in exchange for guilty pleas to two counts of aggravated manslaughter and one count of a first DUI offence. He turned the offer down at what was his final pretrial hearing.
Salem County Judge Michael Silvanio warned Higgins directly that, if convicted on all current charges at trial, he faces a maximum sentence of 91½ years, with parole eligibility only after 68 years served.
Blood-alcohol dispute at the centre of the case
Higgins is charged with two counts each of reckless vehicular homicide, aggravated manslaughter, evidence tampering and leaving the scene of a fatal accident. Prosecutors allege his SUV struck the two brothers during a nighttime bike ride on Aug. 29, 2024 — one day before their sister's wedding — along a stretch of road in Oldsman Township, N.J.
New photographs released in a court filing just before Monday's hearing showed two damaged bicycles and a badly damaged black SUV from the scene of the crash.
The blood-alcohol content of Higgins at the time of the crash has been contested throughout proceedings. His lawyers had previously argued it stood at 0.075 — below New Jersey's legal limit of 0.08 and below the prosecution's figure of 0.087. The defence further contended that investigators conducted the test improperly, measuring blood plasma rather than whole blood.
On Monday, however, defence lawyer Richard Klineburger acknowledged in court that the defence's own blood-alcohol test returned a result of 0.08 — still lower than the prosecution's number, but exactly at the legal limit rather than below it. Klineburger nonetheless maintained that the testing methodology used by investigators was flawed.
Defence points to victims' lights and alcohol levels
The defence also argued that both Gaudreau brothers had blood-alcohol levels above the legal limit at the time of the crash and were cycling without the legally required bike lights along a darkened road. Prosecutors have not publicly responded to those specific claims.
Judge Silvanio set jury selection for the first two weeks of December. The trial is scheduled to begin on Jan. 4.
Source: Toronto Sun Crime