A judge agreed to temporarily block local authorities from releasing records related to comedian Bob Saget’s death after his family filed a lawsuit Tuesday.
Judge Vincent Chiu blocked the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and District Nine Medical Examiner’s Office from releasing any photos, videos, or audio recordings related to the investigation into Saget’s death.
In his order, Chiu said he found Saget’s wife, Kelly Rizzo, and his daughters would “suffer irreparable harm in the form of severe mental pain, anguish, and emotional distress if the requested temporary injunction is not granted.”
“The Court finds … that the public interest is served by the entry of a temporary injunction to allow the Court adequate opportunity to weigh Plaintiffs’ legitimate privacy interest against the public’s claim for disclosure,” he wrote.
Saget, 65, was found dead on Jan. 9 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Orlando. The Orange County Sheriff’s Office has already released an incident report and a recording of the 911 call by hotel security.
“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 Sheriff’s Office said in an unsigned statement Wednesday morning.
According to Saget’s autopsy report, which the Medical Examiner’s Office made public last week, he died of head trauma that “most likely incurred from an unwitnessed fall” in his room. A toxicology analysis released along with the report did not reveal any illicit drugs or toxins.
His death was ruled an accident.
Candace Bure seemingly though probably not realizing how she worded this, but she suggests that there is more to Saget’s death than what has been relayed to the public thus far. She says that it’s been difficult for the family because more things that were revealed raise a lot of questions. It sounds like the public will need to wait to find out what happened exactly and that is if the information is ever released.
NBC New York:
In an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, Feb. 16, Bure shared that she has kept in “close contact” with Saget’s wife, Kelly Rizzo, since the “Raising Dad” star’s passing on Jan. 9.
The anchor asked Bure if she knows how the family is doing, after they filed a lawsuit on Feb. 15, to block the release of the late actor’s medical records. “I keep in close contact with Kelly,” she explained. “It’s been difficult these past couple weeks because of more things that have come out and there’s a lot of questions.”
The fellow “Full House” star, who acted alongside Saget for eight seasons, said she is “trying not to think about it” because she just wants “to remember Bob and what a kind and loving and amazing person that he was and let it be that.”
On Feb. 15, Saget’s wife Rizzo and his three daughters — Aubrey, Lara, and Jennifer Saget,– filed a lawsuit against Orange County Sheriff John Mina and the District Nine Medical Examiner’s Office in Florida. According to their complaint, “certain news and media outlets have filed or plan to file public records requests” regarding his death and the family requested an injunction to keep those materials private.
After the suit was filed, the family’s attorney Brian Bieber told E! News in a statement, “In order to protect the Saget family’s privacy, today on their behalf, I filed for an injunction to prevent the disclosure of any photographs or videos of Mr. Saget made by the authorities during their investigation.”