Judge makes ban on Saget autopsy records release permanent

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A judge in Florida on Monday agreed to make permanent an order that prohibits the release of photos, video or other records related to the investigation into the death of comedian Bob Saget.

During a court hearing in Orlando, Circuit Judge Vincent Chiu said he would issue a permanent injunction that had been requested by Saget’s widow, Kelly Rizzo, and his three daughters. The funnyman died in his Orlando hotel room after a stand-up show on January 9 this year, and is believed to have suffered an accidental head injury that ultimately proved fatal.

Saget was found dead in bed, sparking speculation about what had caused his injuries. One theory that has since emerged is that he fell in his hotel’s tiled bathroom and fatally-injured himself, but managed to crawl back into his bed before succumbing to his wounds.  

Rizzo, 42, a food blogger, and his his three daughters – Aubrey, 34; Lara, 32, and Jennifer, 29, whom he shared with ex-wife Sherri Kramer – petitioned to stop the release of further information about the ‘Full House’ star’s death, which was ruled an accident with no suspected foul play. 

The family members had filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the release of any records from the local medical examiner’s office and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office involving the investigation into Saget’s death.

Saget, 65, was found dead January 9 in a room at the Ritz Carlton in Orlando. He had performed in the area the previous night as part of a stand-up tour.

Saget died from an accidental blow to the head, likely from a fall backward, according to the medical examiner. 

An autopsy report showed that Saget had an abrasion on his scalp, a fracture at the base of his skull, fractures around his eye sockets, bruises to the brain, and bleeding between the brain and tissue covering the brain. 

A toxicology analysis did not show any illicit drugs or toxins in Saget’s body.

During the course of the autopsy and death investigation, the medical examiner’s office and sheriff’s office created graphic videos and photos of Saget’s body, as well as audio recordings. 

Such records are prohibited by state law from being released publicly, but some media outlets had already filed requests for them, according to the family’s lawsuit.

On February 9, his family said that he had died of a head trauma, saying in a statement: ‘They have concluded that he accidentally hit the back of his head on something, thought nothing of it and went to sleep.’

Yet on February 11, the chief medical examiner of Orange and Osceola counties said that Saget had serious skull fractures – raising questions about the previous explanation. 

One analyst, looking at the report, said the injuries were consistent with being hit with a baseball bat or falling 30 feet.  

The family sought an injunction against the medical examiner’s office and the Orange County Sheriff to prevent the release of any records – including photographs, video and audio recordings, and ‘statutorily protected autopsy information’ – related to his death.

‘Plaintiffs will suffer irreparable harm in the form of extreme mental pain, anguish, and emotional distress if Defendants release the Records in response to public records requests or otherwise disseminate the Records for any other reason or purpose,’ the lawsuit stated, according to a copy obtained by ABC News.

Health experts are now asking how thoroughly his death was investigated and what might have caused Saget such a ‘significant blow to the head.’ 

Saget was also COVID-19 positive when he died, though it did not play a role in his death, Joshua Stephany’s report added – although that was not a contributing factor in his death.

‘I think what it reveals more than anything else is this was not a simple bump on the head,’ said neurosurgeon Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN’s chief medical correspondent.

‘When you read this autopsy report that may still be the case, but it was a pretty significant blow to the head.’

A graphic depicted by CNN highlights the bones in Saget’s head that were cited as being fractured, which includes a stretch of bone from the front of his skull to his front temporal bone, in addition to fractures above his eye sockets. 

‘That takes a lot of force to do that. If I knew nothing else about what had happened, you’d think this was someone who had fallen down the stairs and had several impacts to the head or been unrestrained in a car accident,’ Gupta said.

‘Whatever happened here, we may never know how he fell or what happened, but it was a significant blow that caused that. 

‘And likely, the bleeding on top of the brain is likely causing pressure on the brain and subsequently, sadly, what led to him becoming unconscious and dying.’

Dr. Gavin Britz, the chair in neurosurgery at Houston Methodist Hospital, told the New York Times: ‘This is significant trauma.

‘This is something I find with someone with a baseball bat to the head, or who has fallen from 20 or 30 feet.’

He pointed out that Saget’s fractures were not only widespread, but in particularly thick parts of his skull.

‘If you fracture your orbit, you have significant pain,’ he added, referring to the areas around the eyes.

Byron York, the Washington Examiner’s chief political correspondent, responded to the autopsy report by questioning whether the initial investigation could have gone deeper.

‘This is really odd. Makes you wonder about the thoroughness of the original investigation of the scene,’ he tweeted.

Former AUSA-SDNY Richard Signorelli weighed in and suggested that there may have been foul play involved in Saget’s death, despite officials ruling it an accident. 

‘No wrongdoing found. Something doesn’t make sense given his severe head injuries,’ he tweeted.

Emergency physician Dr. Megan Ranney also addressed her concerns raised by the autopsy report and demanded that Saget’s family know what happened.

‘Hi. ICYMI: This is not a ‘slip & fall’. This is not a minor concussion. This is MAJOR head trauma. 

‘My condolences to Saget’s friends & family. I hope that they get answers as to what really happened,’ she tweeted.