Amid a buzz over the gruesome details of actor and comedian Bob Saget’s autopsy, his family is going to court to block crime scene records from making their way into the media.
Saget, 65, was found dead in a Florida hotel room on Jan. 9. Police have ruled out foul play. An autopsy report released last week attributed his death to an accidental fall, most likely a fall backward. However, the report also revealed that the former star of “Full House” suffered fractures to the back, right and front of his skull.
“This is significant trauma,” said Dr. Gavin Britz, chairman in neurosurgery at Houston Methodist, according to The New York Times. “This is something I find with someone with a baseball bat to the head or who has fallen from 20 or 30 feet.”
In light of those comments, and the resultant social media buzz, the case has made its way into the news.
On Tuesday, Kelly Rizzo, Saget’s widow, and her three daughters filed a lawsuit against the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and the District Nine Office of the Medical Examiner to block the release of some records that otherwise might be publicly available, according to CNN.
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“In the process of these investigations, Defendants created records which include photographs, video recordings, audio recordings, statutorily protected autopsy information and all other statutorily protected information,” the lawsuit said.
“Upon information and belief, some of these Records graphically depict Mr. Saget, his likeness or features, or parts of him, and were made by Defendants during Defendants’ investigations.”
Releasing them to comply with public records requests or in any other fashion would cause the family to “suffer irreparable harm in the form of extreme mental pain, anguish and emotional distress,” the lawsuit said.
Does this request show they are hiding something?
Brian Bieber, an attorney for the family said the suit seeks to “prevent disclosure of any photographs or videos of Mr. Saget made by the authorities during their investigation.”
“The facts of the investigation should be made public, but these materials should remain private out of respect for the dignity of Mr. Saget and his family. It’s very simple — from a human and legal standpoint, the Saget family’s privacy rights outweigh any public interest in disclosure of this sensitive information.”
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office released a statement in response, according to NBC.
“While we are sensitive to the family’s concerns about the right to privacy, that must be balanced with our commitment to transparency, compliance with the law and the public’s right to know,” the agency said.
The autopsy report noted that at the time of his death, Saget’s body contained Clonazepam/Klonopin, a drug taken for seizures, panic disorders and anxiety. An antidepressant known as Trazodone was also found in Saget’s body.
Bob Saget died from blunt force trauma to the head that a neurologist said was in line with a fall from 20 or 30 feet or being struck with an object and people are making it a Covid debate. I think there’s a bigger elephant in the room here.
— Kayla Kazarick (@kayla_kazarick) February 13, 2022
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN’s chief medical correspondent, said the autopsy “reveals more than anything else is this was not a simple bump on the head.”
“When you read this autopsy report, that may still be the case, but it was a pretty significant blow to the head,” he said.
“If I knew nothing else about what had happened, you would think that maybe this was someone who had fallen down the stairs and had several impacts to the head or been unrestrained in a car accident.”
