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Law & Justice · North America

Higgins’s lawyer says defense test found .08 blood-alcohol level

Sean Higgins’s lawyer said a defense blood test found a .08 blood-alcohol level in the case stemming from the deaths of brothers Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau, who were struck by a vehicle while bicycling in New Jersey.

AI-assisted synthesis · Based on 4 outlets' reporting · Article text read from 3 of 4 outletsHow it's made

View timeline · 7 entries
4 outletsLatest reporting 3 min read
Coverage: MixedL 1 · C 1 · R 2
Updat3 graphic: North America
Updat3 graphic · Map data: Natural Earth Natural Earth (public domain)

What happened

Key facts

  • Higgins’s lawyer, Richard Klineburger, said a defense blood test measured Higgins’s blood-alcohol level at .08 (per New York Post).
  • The prosecution had asserted Higgins’s blood-alcohol level was .087, while the defense had previously claimed it was .075 (per New York Post).
  • Higgins rejected a prosecution offer of 28 years in prison in exchange for guilty pleas to two counts of aggravated manslaughter and one count of first-offense DWI (per New York Post).
  • Higgins is accused of driving under the influence and striking and killing brothers Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau in Salem County in August 2024 (per 6abc.com, New York Post, dailymail.com).
  • Court records cited by the Daily Mail say Higgins allegedly had a blood-alcohol content of .087 when he struck the brothers in Oldmans Township on August 29, 2024 (per dailymail.com, New York Post).

The brief

Sean Higgins’s lawyer told a New Jersey court that a defense blood test measured Higgins’s blood-alcohol level at .08 in the case concerning the deaths of brothers Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau. Higgins rejected a prosecution offer of 28 years in prison in exchange for guilty pleas to two aggravated-manslaughter counts and one first-offense DWI count.

The .08 figure came from a test arranged by the defense, according to the New York Post. The prosecution had asserted a result of .087, while the defense had previously claimed .075. The New York Post reported that lawyer Richard Klineburger described the defense result as .08 and slightly below the prosecution’s figure.

Higgins is accused of driving under the influence and striking and killing the brothers in Salem County in August 2024. The Daily Mail, citing court records, reported an alleged blood-alcohol content of .087 and placed the crash in Oldmans Township on August 29, 2024.

The 6abc report also identifies Salem County and says Higgins is accused of striking the brothers while driving under the influence. At the hearing, Higgins declined the prosecution’s proposed 28-year term. The New York Post reported that the judge told Higgins any later guilty plea would be an open plea, without a prosecution commitment to seek a lower sentence.

Higgins faces a possible maximum prison sentence of 91 years, according to the New York Post. The hearing was part of the pretrial process. 6abc reported that the judge held a final pretrial hearing and that jury selection is scheduled to begin Dec. 1.

The Daily Mail reported that Higgins was due in court as the defense sought evidence used by Salem County prosecutors to reconstruct the crash; it said the defense had raised that request in court papers filed on October 5.

The accounts emphasize different aspects of the case: the New York Post focuses on the blood-test figures and rejected plea offer, while 6abc reports the hearing and jury-selection schedule. The Daily Mail adds the defense request concerning reconstruction evidence and gives the alleged crash date and location.

Higgins remains accused, and the reported blood-alcohol results are part of the case rather than a verdict.

Why it matters

  • Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau were killed in the crash at the center of the prosecution; Higgins is accused of striking them while driving under the influence.
  • The plea offer would have required guilty pleas to two aggravated-manslaughter counts and one first-offense DWI count in exchange for a 28-year prison term.
  • The prosecution’s asserted.087 result, the defense’s earlier.075 claim, and the defense test’s.08 result are central figures in the case.

What to watch next

  • Whether Higgins enters an open guilty plea, which the judge said would carry no prosecution promise of a lighter sentence.
  • Whether jury selection begins Dec. 1, as scheduled by the court.
  • How the court handles the defense request for evidence prosecutors used to reconstruct the crash.

How it's being covered

Coverage analysisShow details
6 source articles · 4 unique outlets
Outlet political mix: Mixed· 1 Left · 1 Center · 2 Right
Where the outlets are based: US/Canada 100%
Outlet political mix
Mixed
Left
Center
Right
1 outlet
1 outlet
2 outlets
The marker shows coverage balance: each unique outlet counts once.
Geography
Where the outlets covering this story are based.
4 unique outletsDominant coverage: US/Canada
Coverage imbalance
  • Coverage is currently concentrated among outlets based in US/Canada (4 of 4 geographically-identified sources).
How we measure coverage

How outlets' accounts compare

1 factual disagreement · 3 framing differences · 2 uncorroborated claims · 1 information gap
Sources disagree on one factual point.Compared across 3 reports whose article text Updat3 read; 1 other outlet was checked by headline only.
Factual disagreements
Sources report different numbers, dates, attribution or causes for the same thing.
  • The reported blood-alcohol figures differ across accounts of the prosecution’s and defense’s positions: .087, .075, and .08. The sources describe these as competing test results or claims.
Updat3: The evidence conflicts; Updat3 does not present either version as established.
Framing / emphasis differences
Sources emphasise different angles, actors or consequences of the same reporting.
  • The New York Post foregrounds the defense blood-test result and Higgins’s rejection of the plea offer; 6abc emphasizes the final pretrial hearing and jury-selection schedule.
  • The Daily Mail highlights the defense request for crash-reconstruction evidence and reports the alleged crash date and location.
  • The New York Post attributes the .08 figure to defense lawyer Richard Klineburger and says the prosecution asserted .087; the Daily Mail also reports .087 from court records.
Updat3: These are differences of emphasis, not disputes about what is reported. They do not show that the reported claims are true.
One-sided or uncorroborated claims
Claims that come from one party or one source family and are not independently corroborated.
  • The New York Post reports a .08 defense test result, a prior defense claim of .075, and a prosecution assertion of .087.
  • The New York Post reports that the judge said any later guilty plea would be an open plea without a prosecution promise of a lighter term.
Updat3: Not independently corroborated yet — treat as a claim, not an established fact.
Not established by the reporting
Information the available reporting does not contain or confirm. This is a gap, not a disagreement.
  • The sources do not provide a court finding establishing Higgins’s guilt or resolving the competing blood-test figures.
Updat3: Updat3 cannot conclude anything about this from the current sources.

Timeline

Developments from this story's sources, dated background we compiled and fact-checked, and our earlier coverage. Each row says which.
  1. Johnny Gaudreau began his NHL career with the Calgary Flames.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  2. Johnny Gaudreau signed with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  3. AllegedHiggins is accused of driving under the influence and striking and killing brothers Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau in Salem County in August 2024.
    Reported in this story's sourcesSource:6abc.com
  4. AllegedCourt records cited by the Daily Mail say Higgins allegedly had a blood-alcohol content of .087 when he struck the brothers in Oldmans Township on August 29, 2024.
    Reported in this story's sourcesSource:dailymail.com
  5. New Jersey authorities charged Higgins in connection with the brothers’ deaths.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  6. A grand jury indicted Higgins on charges including two counts of aggravated manslaughter.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  7. Higgins pleaded not guilty to charges related to the Gaudreau brothers’ deaths.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3

How we got here

On August 29, 2024, Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau were riding bicycles in Oldmans Township, New Jersey, when a vehicle driven by Sean Higgins struck them; both brothers died. The criminal case therefore involves both the circumstances of the collision and how New Jersey law treats deaths allegedly caused by a driver’s intoxication.

New Jersey’s driving-while-intoxicated law, N.J.S.A. 39:4-50, sets a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.08 percent as the threshold for a per se DWI offense. The state lowered its legal limit from 0.10 to 0.08 in 2003, with the change taking effect in 2004. New Jersey separately criminalizes deaths caused by driving. Under N.J.S.A.

Original sources

6 articles from 4 outlets

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