ORLANDO, Fla. — Comedian Bob Saget’s family asked an Orange County judge on Tuesday to block local authorities from releasing records related to his death investigation.
The lawsuit filed by Saget’s wife Kelly Rizzo and his daughters, Aubrey Saget, Lara Saget and Jennifer Saget, seeks to prevent Orange County Sheriff John Mina and the District Nine Medical Examiner’s Office from releasing further information in response to public records requests.
Saget’s family will “suffer irreparable harm in the form of extreme mental pain, anguish, and emotional distress” if more details about his death investigation are released, the complaint said. “No legitimate public interest would be served by the release or dissemination of the records to the public.”
Saget, 65, was found dead 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.
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. His death was ruled an accident.
Lawyers for the GrayRobinson firm in Orlando, representing Saget’s family, wrote in the complaint that photographs, video and audio recordings from the investigation of Saget’s death and his autopsy are confidential and should be exempt from release.
Photos, video and audio recordings of autopsies are already exempt from public disclosure under Florida’s public records laws. That exemption was created by state lawmakers following a controversy over the autopsy photos of another celebrity: NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt, who died in a February 2001 crash at the Daytona 500.
This is a breaking news story. Check back for more details.
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