UPDATED: Florida Circuit Court Judge Vincent Chiu today ordered permanently sealed “photographs, video recordings, audio recordings, statutorily protected autopsy information” collected by the Orange County, Florida sheriff and medical examiner in relation of Bob Saget’s death, according to the Associated Press.
The action was taken at the request of Saget’s widow Kelly Rizzo and her three daughters, who filed a lawsuit last month to ensure records that “graphically depict Mr. Saget, his likeness or features, or parts of him” after his death be sealed. The family reportedly had concerns that some media outlets might seek to obtain the documents.
Judge Chiu had granted a temporary injunction on February 16.
PREVIOUSLY on February 16: Bob Saget’s widow Kelly Rizzo and her three daughters filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the Orange County, Florida sheriff and medical examiner’s office seeking to keep sealed certain records related to the investigation into the comedian’s recent death.
“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,” reads the lawsuit, according to a CNN report. “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.”
Today, Florida Circuit Court Judge Vincent Chiu granted a temporary injunction preventing the release of those records, ABC News reported.
It was the family who first announced the cause of Saget’s death: head trauma, likely after accidentally hitting his head and falling asleep. The medical examiner later confirmed that Saget’s death was “accidental” and “the result of blunt head trauma.”
A family attorney told CNN on Wednesday, “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.”
Among the family’s concerns is that “certain news and media outlets have filed or plan to file public records requests” for minute details of Saget’s death.