Prosecutors are urging a judge to uphold charges against the driver accused of killing hockey star Johnny Gaudreau and his brother — pushing back on claims the blood evidence in the case is flawed.
In a new court filing, prosecutors are disputing allegations that blood tests of driver Sean M. Higgins failed to show he was intoxicated when he struck the NHL star and his brother as they bicycled along a rural road in Salem County in 2024.
Higgins’ attorneys want his indictment dismissed, arguing the grand jury was misled.
In their court filing, prosecutors stood behind their allegations that Higgins was drunk. They argued the defense’s challenge of blood toxicology results is based on a single expert’s opinion.
“It is only one chemist’s opinion attacking the credibility of one piece of the State’s evidence in this matter,” Assistant Prosecutor Michael Mestern wrote in the new brief made public on Monday.
The prosecution also argued that it has many ways of proving Higgins was reckless and showed an “extreme indifference to human life” on the night of the crash.
The crash occurred around 8:15 p.m. on Aug. 29, 2024, as Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau bicycled together on Route 551/Pennsville-Auburn Road in Oldmans Township.
Higgins was arrested after he failed a field sobriety test.
He admitted drinking several beers before the crash and acknowledged drinking as he drove, according to police.
His blood was later taken at a hospital to measure his blood alcohol level.
The dispute centers around dueling claims over how the blood alcohol level was measured.
Prosecutors said Higgins’ blood alcohol concentration was measured at 0.087%, above the legal limit of 0.08%. But a defense expert’s review of the toxicology report determined his reading was actually 0.075%, below the legal limit.
The defense argued, instead of testing a whole blood sample from Higgins, a sample of his blood serum was used.
The defense previously referred to the sample tested as plasma, but its latest brief uses the term serum. Blood serum is the clear, yellowish liquid that remains after blood clots.
Experts say a whole blood sample is preferred when testing for intoxication. That is because alcohol readings in serum samples alone are usually higher than in whole blood.
When whole blood is not tested, a conversion formula recognized under state law is used to get an accurate blood alcohol concentration figure, the defense said in its argument.
That formula was not applied in Higgins’ case, the defense said. If it was applied, his reading would have been the lower 0.075% figure, they alleged.
Higgins, 45, of Pilesgrove, was indicted on two counts of first-degree aggravated manslaughter, two counts of second-degree reckless vehicular homicide, second-degree leaving the scene of a fatal accident and fourth-degree tampering with physical evidence.
By telling the grand jury that Higgins was legally intoxicated, the prosecution allowed jurors to draw incorrect conclusions about his recklessness, his attorneys said.
“In circumstances where the State’s presentation creates a misleading factual framework that shapes the grand jury’s evaluation of probable cause, the resulting indictment cannot be allowed to stand,” they wrote.